


Save Me From Myself

by yavanna_195



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Theo, Angst with a Happy Ending, At least in my head, Because she's awesome and has a tragic backstory, Childhood Friends, Even the Nogitsune, Everyone is heading back to Beacon Hills to kick butt, F/M, Flashbacks, Good Theo, Heavy Angst, M/M, Shapeshifters Being Shifty, Stiles is always right, The Dread Doctors are pretty douchey, Theo and his Tragic Backstory, Theo is a puppy and needs someone to hold him, Theo isn't Theo, Theo's Pack vs Chimera Pack, basically this is my way of coping with reality, that will make sense eventually - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-31
Updated: 2016-08-04
Packaged: 2018-05-17 12:17:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 31,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5869186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yavanna_195/pseuds/yavanna_195
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>what if the only reason we can't walk through mirrors is because our reflection blocks us</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>what if they're protecting us though</em>
  <br/>
  <em>what if they know that the other side is horrifying and painful and they are trying to keep us from ever crossing over</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I must be on the wrong side of the mirror then</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>maybe you're the reflection</em>
</p>
<p> -random Tumblr post</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. What Have I Become?

Thursday, September 23, 2012

This isn't the first time he's gotten night terrors. They had started right after they had first operated on him. However, they had become less and less recurring after he had escaped and had finally faded away altogether, so he hadn't given much thought to them in recent years. But tonight, they seem to be back in full force.

He doesn't know where he is. It seems to be a school of some sort, but it isn't his. He isn't in control of his body. It keeps walking even when he tries to get it to stop. He can hear voices off to the side as he turns into what appears to be a library.

"It's the Supermoon. It was just..."

"Bad timing," he hears himself say. "I mean, seriously. You couldn't have waited five minutes?" 

There are two figures in front of him, blurred, unlike the surroundings which stand out so clear they almost hurt to look at. One of the figures seems to stand slightly as he approaches and he strikes out, knocking them to the floor.

"I should've stayed. I should've made sure."

"Because now you'll have to kill me yourself."

"They're still mine. Maybe not yet, but they'll come around."

"Not for you."

His hand is warm. It's in the figure's chest. He can feel blood soaking into his sleeve as a heart beats against his fingertips.

"They're not like you. They never will be."

"Because I'm a Chimera? Because I'm not a real werewolf?" 

"Because you're barely even human."

Even in his own body far away he suddenly burns red hot with rage. It feels empowering, reinvigorating. _He's_ the one who stabs his hand further inwards. _He's_ the one who feels the lungs shred beneath his claws and crushes his fist until he can no longer feel any life beating against the palm of his hand. _He's_ in control now.

The fog clears, and familiar eyes stare back at him. Eyes that he never thought he'd see again.

In horror, he pulls away, letting the body fall to the floor. 

'This isn't happening. This isn't happening.'

But it is. He can smell the pain, the betrayal, the sickly sweet smell of warm blood, of death. He can feel it coating his hand and soaking into his clothes.

There's a woman's scream and the sound of breaking glass.

He jerks upright in bed with a roar, eyes flashing a searing red. His father immediately tries to wrestle him back down as his mother stands beside the bed looking terrified. He's sobbing. There's blood everywhere, but no one in the room is hurt. Shoving his father off, he sits up and swings off of the bed, his feet landing on broken glass.

He looks down. A picture frame is lying shattered on the floor. A chill runs through him as he removes the photograph from the wreckage with a shaking palm and turns it over.

There are three boys standing in their Little League uniforms with their arms around each other. The two on the left are shredded to pieces, and he realizes he must have clawed it and knocked it off the bedside table. They had been smiling when he had gone to bed. The one on the far right had been smiling, too, but his face is indistinguishable now. Blood is welling up out of the paper, staining his face and dripping onto the floor. His blood. The blood in the dream. They all had the same scent.

"Sweetheart, what is it? What's wrong?" his mother asks, tilting his head up to look at her.

He doesn't answer, and instead looks back to the photograph, then freezes in shock. The blood is gone. All of it. All he is holding is a shredded picture.

"It's alright," his mother whispers, taking it out of his hand. "I still have that roll. I'll get another picture developed tomorrow."

"No, it's not that," he rasps, shocked to hear how hoarse he is. How long has he been screaming?

"Mom," he chokes out, looking back to her. "I killed him."

Hanging his head, Theo gazes at the palms of his hands as tears run down his face.

"I killed Scott."


	2. Blood-Stained Sapphires In Their Eyes

Friday, September 24, 2012

Theo awoke the next morning ill at ease, and immediately began poking around the room for signs of the trauma of the previous night. The frame and picture were gone, and the rug beside his bed was still pulled back from when his mother had swept up the glass. She made him go back to sleep after that, and even though he was almost too terrified to drift off again, he was exhausted, and was thankfully blessed to spend the rest of the night in the cool black stillness of a dreamless sleep. With the morning's light, all of last night's fear seemed to be passing away. There was no blood, nor even the residual scent of it. Scott and all the others were safe back in Beacon Hills, while he was hundreds of miles away in upstate New York. It had all been nothing but a dream. A very vivid dream, yes, but a dream nonetheless.

Slipping into his clothes, he grabbed his backpack from by the door and jogged down the stairs. His mother was in the kitchen getting breakfast ready (his father had left for work a couple of hours earlier) and looked up with concern as he walked into the room.

"I'm fine, mom," he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek before snatching up several pieces of toast from the plate on the counter and heading towards the door.

"Theo," she said warningly, and he turned back as he grabbed his skateboard with his toast-free hand.

"C'mon, mom. You know I can't have breakfast here every morning."

"Sit."

With a groan, he dropped the skateboard back on the floor and flopped down into the nearest chair.

"I'm fine," he muttered as she set a plate almost overflowing with bacon and scrambled eggs in front of him.

"Eat."

He unwillingly complied with her wishes and wolfed down all the food in a matter of seconds. (That particular phrase suddenly struck him as an accurate piece of information that didn't at all exaggerate canine eating habits.)

"Okay, done," he said, springing up and almost sprinting for the door.

His mother sighed, surrendering, at least for this battle.

"Mom, I'll be fine," he called over his shoulder. "It was just a dream. And besides, I'll be with the guys all day. Nothing bad's going to happen." 

"They're all murderers, Theo."

"And just what am I then, exactly?" he snapped, turning to glare back through the open door.

"We've discussed this, Theo. What happened wasn't your fault. You were tricked and..."

"That doesn't make me any less to blame."

He sighed, kicking his foot against the door. This was getting frustrating. His parents didn't understand, could never understand. They would always be in denial so that they never had to give up both of their children to the same enemy. It would always be a mistake, a trick, an accident. He would never be the guilty one. Only them. But his parents hadn't seen how coldblooded he had been in that moment. How he had just stood there, watching as she begged for her life, as that life slowly drained from her eyes. He knew. He had been there. He had felt it.

"Look," he said quietly. "We'll talk when I get home, okay?'

And with that he shut the door and headed down the sidewalk towards school. Towards his pack.

***

"So you had a dream you murdered a kid you knew in elementary school. Big whoop," Jemina muttered, licking a wad of cupcake frosting off her finger.

Theo glared across the table at her.

"I wasn't expecting any of you to be empathetic. Least of all you." - she smirked here, flashing bright blue eyes across at him - "All I want is your opinion on whether it could have been real or not."

Connor, the nerd of the group, who also happened to be sitting to Theo's immediate left, turned to him and said, "Well, there have been plenty of documented cases of people who suffer from night terrors doing and saying things that they don't remember when they wake up. Sometimes, they even attack the very people who are trying to help them. You're lucky you didn't rip your parents apart, too."

Theo groaned at this, slumping forward onto the table.

"But," Connor continued, "the chances of you sleepwalking to Beacon Hills, murdering someone, and sleepwalking back within a 3 hour timeframe is ridiculous. Also, you'd have had to time travel, because the clock you said you saw in your dream read something around 9:00 and you woke up at midnight. California is three hours behind us, so you woke up at the exact same time you "murdered" someone across the country."

Theo opened his mouth as if to say something in response.

"And if you even think about saying that since it was the same time there that you could have been animating someone else's body then I will slap you and steal your Cheetos."

"Honestly, Connor, you terrify me."

"Dude, stealing Cheetos isn't exactly the epitome of evil."

"Not that! The fact that you were able to imagine someone projecting themselves into another body to commit a murder."

"I've thought about it a lot, actually. It would be so convenient. You could get so much done and it would always be some other poor bastard who gets blamed for it."

"Honestly, I prefer the feeling of blood on my hands," Jemina retorted, as if she found his idea particularly offensive.

Theo shot her a death glare, as Dana, the other female of the group - who couldn't really be classified as a murderer since she got her blue eyes by accidentally rupturing a bully's internal organs while still adjusting to werewolf strength - muttered, "You're disgusting."

"What? At least I'm honest."

"Guys!" the fifth werewolf, Blake, shouted.

They all jumped. Blake was always extremely quiet and rarely spoke unless spoken too. Unless he was extremely peeved. As he was now.

"Look, this is an awesome opportunity. Dana, you and I want to escape our math exam on Monday." - she nodded vigorously at this - "Jem, you just want to get out of this town in general. Connor, you want to figure this whole thing out. And Theo, you want to see whether your dream came true or not."

The Alpha stared at him blankly for a second before his idea finally clicked.

"Oh, absolutely not."

"Road trip!" Dana and Jemina squealed, slamming their hands together in a high five that nearly brought down the building.

'This is it,' Theo thought to himself. 'This is where I kill myself.'

"And just where exactly are we getting the money for this?"

Connor and Jemina met each other's eyes with a grin.

"You know what, I don't even want to know. I'll talk to my parents tonight and give you all a call on the final decision. If it's a go, we meet at the mall parking lot to leave at six sharp tomorrow morning."

"Six?" they all groaned.

"Hey," he said with a grin. "You said you wanted a road trip. You never said it had to be fun."

"But that was the whole idea," Jemina growled, viciously tearing into her cupcake.

***

As soon as Theo entered the house, he knew that this wasn't going to be a fun evening. Both of his parents were sitting on the living room couch, facing the door, waiting for him. In his experience, this never meant something good. So he decided to just get his request out of the way before anyone got worked up.

"Guys, I want to leave with the pack for Beacon Hills tomorrow morning."

His parents turned to each other and smiled, leaving him utterly confused. Any normal parents would probably have started ranting or lecturing after receiving such a request. Then again, normal parents have to adapt whenever they find themselves with a completely abnormal child.

"We were actually going to tell you that we think you should do just that," his father said.

Theo felt like he just got a bucket of ice water dumped on his head, sending him into temporary shock.

"W...What?" he stuttered, staggering to the nearest chair and sitting down heavily.

"You don't hide you emotions very well," his mother said gently. "We can tell you were extremely traumatized by your dream last night, and that you think that somehow it actually happened. We want you to go back so you can see that your friends are all right."

"Also," she added, lowering her voice, "one of our sources just came in and said that the teenagers of Beacon Hills are disappearing. There have been vicious animal attacks, bodies being stolen from morgues. A report from one of the crime scenes stated that a large amount of mercury was found on site."

Theo gripped the arms of the chair so tight they almost snapped. 

"They're back?"

His parents nodded gravely in response.

"Change of plans," he ground out. "We're going tonight."

He stood up to head to the phone, his mother anxiously coming up behind him.

"Theo, you're just investigating. Don't engage them."

"I told them that if they ever came back there, I would hunt them down and kill them. They brought this on themselves."

"Theo..."

"I have one of history's most vicious, relentless werewolf packs. One made up entirely of werewolves who have taken innocent lives. A conglomerate of wolves from all different packs - wolves that work just as well alone as they do together. And their Alpha knows the enemy inside and out, all of their secrets, all of their patterns, and was even once one of their own. I won't miss this opportunity. Not when I'm this close."

His mother took a step back from him in shock.

"This was never about redeeming those kids, was it?" she asked softly.

"No," he muttered, picking up the phone and starting to dial Jemina's number. He was not going to let all his childhood friends get dragged into this freakish world that he was forced to discover.

"No," he says softly as he waits for her to pick up. "I was building an army."


	3. We're Going To Be Friends

Third week of school, 2003

Scott knew this was a terrible idea. It had basically been established since kindergarten that Lydia Martin was off limits unless you wanted Jackson Whittemore to hang you off the school's fence by your pants. But after working with her on a group project a couple days ago Stiles had turned into a dewy-eyed Romeo and was determined to die fighting for her honor. Scott wasn't particularly sure what exactly Stiles saw in her (apparently she was smart?), but he was going along for the ride anyways because, hey, that's what best friends are for.

The kids were all outside for recess and Stiles had just announced that he was going to confess his love to Lydia right here and now. Which would have been perfectly fine, if she hadn't been talking to Jackson himself at that particular moment.

"I'm not scared of him," Stiles declared as Scott tried to convince him to back out.

"Stiles, I'm asthmatic and you're skinnier then a fencepost. They'll kill us. Literally."

Jackson's cronies had just joined him and Lydia, prompting Scott to consider abandoning his friend and fleeing for the hills and giving Stiles second thoughts.

"Fine," he muttered. "I'll wait."

Satisfied, Scott began to relax again.

***

They were going to die. Scott should have never listened to Stiles. Nor should they have believed that Lydia would have been walking home unaccompanied. As soon as Stiles had approached her, she'd screamed for Jackson, who had been hiding in the bushes with two of his friends,  and took off running. Now Scott and Stiles were both on the ground, and while Scott was slightly sure that he might be allowed to live another day, he was almost certain that Stiles wouldn't be granted the same amount of leniency.

One of Jackson's nameless robots was holding Stiles down while Jackson stalked in front of him, probably plotting various ways to torture him. Scott dared not move because Jackson's third in command after Danny Mahealani, Theo Raeken, was practically leaning all of his weight onto the knee he had planted on Scott's sternum and would probably snap his neck if he so much as twitched. Not that Theo had a reputation, per say, but everyone certainly believed him worthy of one.

"I say we throw them in the river," Jackson crowed. 

Stiles' eyes widened in terror. He wasn't a particularly good swimmer, and definitely wouldn't be able to stay afloat if he was trying to hold up Scott, who couldn't swim at all.

"I...I can't..." he stuttered.

"Too bad," Jackson said with a smirk. "You probably should have thought of that before you went after my girl."

Beside Stiles, Scott started hyperventilating. Oh great. This wouldn't end well.

"Jackson," Theo suddenly spoke up. "Please tell me we're not actually going to drown the new sheriff's son."

"Who cares who his dad is," Jackson retorted. " _My_ dad can get us out of anything."

Theo was clearly extremely skeptical of this claim and began to put less pressure on Scott's chest, letting him breathe easier.

"Jackson..." he said warningly, causing both Jackson and the crony to turn to look at him.

Stiles took advantage of the distraction and pushed the bully off of him and started to run, but Jackson grabbed him and threw him back down on the ground, kicking him in the stomach.

"I said not to move!" he shouted, kicking the smaller boy again.

Scott had started wheezing and reached into his pocket for his inhaler. It wasn't there. He must have dropped it when they first got jumped.

"Theo," he choked out. "I can't...breathe."

Theo immediately got off him and looked down with concern.

"What?"

"My asthma...I can't..."

Jackson noticed and stopped kicking Stiles to come over to Scott. 

"What's the matter, McCall? Having trouble breathing?" he said gleefully. "Does this make it worse?"

He clapped his hand over Scott's mouth and nose, causing him to start thrashing about on the ground. Theo had had it at this point and grabbed Jackson, dragging him off of Scott and shoving him backwards.

"Jesus, Theo, it was just a joke!"

"It wasn't a funny joke," Theo growled, balling his hands into fists.

"Okay, fine. We'll leave asthma boy. But we're still throwing Stilinski here in the river."

He grabbed Stiles, dragging him up by his collar, and raising a fist to strike him.

There was a resounding crack.

Jackson staggered back, a hand on his jaw and shock plastered across his face.

Stiles looked up slack-jawed to see Theo standing over him, blood smeared across his hand where the skin had come off his knuckles when he'd struck Jackson.

The crony moved forward, but was met with Theo's steely gaze and decided that this battle wasn't quite worth the effort. He took off down the street, followed by Jackson who screamed back over his shoulder, "You're dead, Raeken! You're dead!"

Theo just laughed quietly as he located Scott's inhaler in the grass and handed it to him before helping Stiles up.

"Why did you do that?" Stiles asked in awe. Being a member of Jackson' pack was an extremely coveted position and no one ever gave it up. EVER.

Theo just laughed some more.

"Because Jackson's a dick, and I'm sick of him being in charge all the time. Also, it was the right thing to do."

He helped Scott, who was breathing easier now, off the ground, and put his arms around the pair.

"C'mon, you two. Let's get you home."

***

Just a few moments after they had entered Scott's house, Theo had decided that Melissa McCall was one of the most amazing people he had ever encountered. His parents had mentioned the rough divorce she had just gone through in passing, but if it had been hard on her she most certainly wasn't planning on showing anyone. She immediately began patching the boys up and then went and got them snacks, leaving them to discuss the recent happenings.

"So, umm..." Stiles paused, biting his lip in a clear indicator that what was coming next was hard for him to say. "Thank you."

"It wasn't a problem," Theo drawled, reclining back in the sofa. And it certainly appeared that he wasn't bothered by what had just happened at all. In fact, he seemed almost pleased with what had happened.

"But, you just punched your best friend in the face. For _us_."

"You don't honestly think he was my friend, do you?" Theo scoffed. "I don't have any friends. Jackson was just a means to an end. And now I don't need him anymore. But I hope I've found some real friends now."

He grinned at them.

Scott was completely incredulous at this bold declaration.

"You don't actually want to be friends with us!" he exclaimed. "We...we..."

He started coughing again at this point, prompting Melissa to rush in to administer a few more puffs from the inhaler.

After she left again, Theo continued.

"I don't actually give a crap about the popularity and stuff. No one really likes me anyways. They're just scared of me is all."

He paused as if considering something.

"I like you guys. I like how you go into a fight knowing you won't win but still fighting anyways. I like that you always do even the stupidest, most dangerous things together without question. I like how you always stick together no matter what. I want friends like that."

Scott and Stiles both grew red in the face. Here was Theo Raeken of all people, one of the cool kids, giving them of all people a compliment. A sincere compliment, no less.

"Look, I know you guys think I'm some jock and don't want anything to do with you. That's not true. I'm not actually that athletic. Hell, I even suck at skateboarding."

Stiles gasped at this. 

"I could teach you!" he blurted out without thinking, immediately clamping his mouth shut.

"Really?"

"Uhh, yeah," he replied shyly. "I go to the old water treatment plant every once in a while to practice. You can come with me sometime if you want."

Theo smiled at this, not with his signature smirk, but with a genuine smile.

"I'd like that a lot, Stiles. Thanks."


	4. No More Lies

"I can't believe we're actually doing this," Connor groaned. They had already been driving for nearly three hours and it had just passed midnight. Theo had been considerate enough to give them a couple of hours to pack, at least.

"You're the ones that wanted to go," said Theo, who was driving, "so we're going. Happy now?"

This question didn't particularly require answering, mostly because everyone except the two of them were asleep. Jem was riding shotgun and Theo had to keep shrugging to shove back her head which kept rolling onto his shoulder. Blake was next to Connor in the middle and would probably fall out of the car if the door was opened, and Dana had taken up the whole back seat and was snoring loudly. Connor himself was wrapped in every blanket he could safely steal as Theo was blasting the air conditioning to keep himself awake. Coffee, sadly, had next to no effect on werewolves.

Connor grumbled something that sounded like "Go fuck yourself," then rolled over and tried to fall asleep.

***

"Does anyone have any idea where we are?" Jem muttered, glaring out the window.

"Ohio."

"Oh. So that's why it's so boring."

"It's also still dark out."

They all paused, waiting for Theo's usual reprimand, but it never came. Jem looked across at him in concern, or whatever passed for concern in her emotional range. He looked completely worn out, which was odd since, given his werewolf status, he shouldn't have been tired by then at all.

"Dude, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he muttered, focusing on the road ahead.

She sighed exasperatedly.

"Pull over, Theo. Now."

He immediately did, the entire pack staring on in shock. Theo never followed an order from one of his own pack members, at least not without arguing about it for at least several hours.

Once the car came to a stop, Jem got out and walked around to the driver's side and hauled Theo out, dragging him back around to her side and shoving him into the passenger seat.

"Rest up a bit," she said gently (again, she was a psychopath, but she was trying her best). "I'll drive for a bit."

Theo didn't even acknowledge her. He was already asleep.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Dana asked as Jem got in and started up the car.

"Well, I'm not exactly what you would call an expert on the subject of emotions..."

"That's the understatement of the year," Connor quipped.

She glared at him in the rearview mirror.

"As I was saying, I'm not completely certain, but I think he's actually wearing himself down. Probably from guilt."

"That's stupid. What the hell has he ever done?"

"Well, he told us when he first banded us together that the real color of his eyes was blue, like ours. So he's obviously not as white at the wind driven snow."

Theo muttered something in his sleep, causing them all to shut up instantaneously.

Then he said it again.

"Stiles."

"What the hell is a Stiles?" Connor whispered.

"I think it would be best if we don't ask him," Jem replied tersely.

***

Early Summer, 2004.

There were many horrifying things that Theo's adolescent mind attributed the scratching noise coming from his roof to, but none of them quite prepared him for the sight of a young Stiles Stilinski perched outside his window.

"Stiles, what the hell are you doing?" he hissed, dragging the younger boy into his bedroom.

Stiles landed on the floor with a thump. It took Theo a moment before he realized that his friend had been crying recently and that his face and arms were covered in scratches.

"Who did this?" he growled, gently grabbing Stiles' hands and inspecting them with narrowed eyes.

"She attacked me. Again," he sobbed.

Stiles broke down in Theo's arms, crying heavily again.

"My dad's staying with her tonight, Scott and his mom are out of town, and I don't know who else to..."

"It's okay," Theo said, pulling Stiles into a hug. "You can stay with me until your dad comes home. I don't mind, and my parents won't, either."

"Are you sure?"

"Definitely."

Stiles hung his head and was silent for a while.

"She hates me," he whispered suddenly.

"Stiles, your mom doesn't hate you, and she'd never want to hurt you. She's just not in control right now. It's not her fault. There's just..."

Theo paused, searching for the right thing to say.

"There's just something else in control right now. Something that's not her. She just needs someone to show her who she really is again."

Theo knew that Stiles' mom was eventually going to die. He had heard his parents (his mom was on the hospital board) and Mrs. McCall discussing it before. But no one had told Stiles yet, and this was the most encouraging he could think of to say at the moment. How was he supposed to know just how seriously it would be taken?

Stiles stopped crying and nodded quietly.

"Okay," he whispered.

"C'mon," Theo said. "You've been up all night. You need some sleep."

He crawled back into bed and Stiles snuggled up next to him. The two boys fell asleep holding each other tightly.

***

Late Fall, 2004.

"This is all my fault. I couldn't save her," Stiles sobbed.

His mom had been buried just that morning and he was completely torn apart.

"Stiles..." Theo said quietly. "There's nothing you could have done to save her."

"You told me I could bring her back!" Stiles screamed at him.

"I didn't mean..."

"You're supposed to be my friend, Theo! You're not supposed to lie to me!"

"I'm sorry," Theo whispered, starting to cry.

"Sorry doesn't even begin to make up for it. And where the hell have you even been? My mom starts dying and all of a sudden Scott's there for me and you just disappear for days at a time?"

Theo flinched at this. How could he even begin to explain that? There was no plausible excuse, at least, not one that would sit well in Stiles' suspicious head. And he'd certainly never believe the truth.

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

"You're right," Stiles replied. "I wouldn't believe anything you told me." 

And with that he pushed past Theo and ran off to the limo where his dad was waiting, leaving Theo standing by himself.

But nevertheless, despite Theo having admitted that Stiles couldn't have saved Claudia, Stiles could never get over the feeling that somehow, Theo had been right. That he could have saved Claudia. But now it was too late for him to ever know how.

Later that night, Theo awoke suddenly and sat up in bed. He knew what he had to do, what could make all of this better. Getting up, he vaulted out of the window and took off through the woods to the old water treatment plant. He knew these tunnels like the back of his hand now. Once he was deep inside, he sat down on the floor and simply waited. He never had to look for them. They always came to him.

Before long, he heard the familiar whirring and clicking noise that meant that they had arrived. Getting to his feet and turning around, he faced the three ominous figures looming behind him.

"I want to change the deal," he said, his voice trembling more than usual.

All they did was stare at him in response, and he suddenly grew more confident.

"After the operation is over, you won't bring back only my sister. If it works on her, you'll also bring back my friend's mom."

"Claudia."

"Yes, Claudia Stilinski."

The figures glanced among each other, the clicking taking on the form of some type of communication. Finally, the lead figure turned back to him.

"We'll agree to your conditions, but this is the final deal. No more negotiating."

Theo nodded.

"I'll do it," he said in a determined voice. "I'll become a Chimera."


	5. Tadashimasu (正します) - Rectify

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We deviate briefly here from Theo's story line to join six of our favorite misfits as they meet by chance in a roadside bar. The Nogitsune reveals that she and Noshiko were victims of the biggest miscommunication in the history of miscommunications. (Also it's my birthday but no one cares about that so onto the story.)

Saturday, September 25, 2012

This had to be the most awkward reunion in history. Ethan and Danny had just stopped to grab dinner in a roadside bar before going on their way. It had never occurred to them that Kate Argent didn't know who they were, but very much remembered who Jackson was, just as they hadn't heard that Jackson had returned from Europe, much less that he had returned with Isaac Lahey of all people. Now they were all sitting at a large table simply glaring at each other and not making much in the way of conversation. In fact, they all probably would have just gone their separate ways if they hadn't all been hungry and felt somewhat more comfortable sitting with others like themselves rather than with regular humans. But most unnerving of all was the young girl that Isaac had with him. Ethan hadn't bothered to ask who she was. He just knew. Despite being in a new body, the Nogitsune still had the same look of wicked nonchalance about her that could never quite be replicated by anyone other than a spirit of complete and utter nothingness. As to why she was back in physical form and with Isaac, he decided not to ask.

Danny, while having been previously made aware that Ethan, Isaac and Jackson were all werewolves and that Aiden had been killed by the demon servant of a fox spirit, didn't seem to particularly grasp the tenseness of the situation and tried to engage in casual conversation. 

"So, umm, you guys are all heading back to Beacon Hills, too?"

Jackson, who had been glaring murderously at Ethan, or rather, not Ethan, but his physique which he so happened to share with a certain someone who had had his hands all over Lydia, was the first to respond.

"England sucked, to be completely honest. No fighting or anything. Also, let's just say that I'm not a complete douchebag anymore and kinda want to make up for everyone I killed as a Kanima by ripping apart some real murderers instead." He shot a venomous look at Kate as he said this. "And you guys?"

"We've been up in Canada staying with a Druid so that I could start training to become an emissary. Then Ethan heard that his old Alpha was back in Beacon Hills and decided that he'd head back to help Scott kick his ass."

"Deucalion's back?" Isaac exclaimed, almost choking on his drink. "Man, I hate that son of a bitch."

"That makes two of us," Ethan muttered.

"Three," Kate broke in. "He killed my uncle. Well, bit him. My uncle followed the Code and shot himself in a hotel. What was its name? The Glen Capri."

Isaac and Ethan shuddered.

"And speaking of Argents in general, what the hell are you heading back for?" Jackson snapped.

Scott had told him that Kate had suspected him of being the new Beta and had planned to kill him, and after Gerard he had lost any love he'd never had for that family in general.

"Family business," she retorted, downing a shot of whiskey. "I was in hiding out east when I heard something shocking. La Bête du Gévaudan has been resurrected, and it's in Beacon Hills."

Now it was Jackson's turn to choke on his drink.

"Please tell me that not the same big scary thing that Allison was writing her history report on."

Kate smirked at him. 

"The very same."

"Ooh, a 250-year-old werewolf. Very scary," the Nogitsune quipped from where she was sprawled across a chair off to the side.

Ethan turned his glare to her.

"I think you have the most explaining to do, umm..."

"Kaida," she said, leaning forward. "My name's Kaida. And Isaac seemed to take my explanation very well, so you probably will too."

"You killed my brother."

"Wrong, an Oni killed your brother."

"On your orders."

"I just told them to defend me. If he'd just walked away, he'd still be alive. The mind truly is mightier than the sword."

Ethan snarled at her and started to shift before Danny elbowed him in the stomach.

"Not in public!" he hissed.

"Well, now that we've got that under control," Kaida said, "you all get to hear my tragic backstory..."

***

"Before I became a Nogitsune, I was a Fire Kitsune living in a coastal village in Kyūshū in southern Japan. When I was 18 years old, in 1019, the Toi pirates invaded my homeland. When my village was attacked, I had to watch as everyone I loved - my family, my friends, the man I was supposed to marry - were murdered and burned. I had no powers beyond the control of fire. What could I do that wouldn't make everything worse? After all my loved ones perished, I was weakened. I had drawn all my power from their love and happiness, but now there was nothing left. I was taken captive with the rest of the young women of my village and with a monk, who they were to afraid to kill.

"During my captivity, I plotted my revenge, but no matter how much planning I did, I couldn't avoid the fact that I remained too weak to fight. I went to the monk for help. He told me that there was only one thing that I could do to avenge my loved ones: become a Nogitsune, and feed off the chaos and misery of all the wretched captives who surrounded me. But he warned me that it was a dark path and that there was no coming back from it. Since I was young and foolish, I believed that as long as I kept my intentions pure, I could remain a normal Kitsune and simply change the source of my power.

"I focused on all the pain that surrounded me and drew from it. I felt the spirit in me changing and tried to focus on the goodness I would be doing to keep it from overcoming me, but I couldn't quell the power rising in me. It overcame me, and I destroyed not only those pirates that had destroyed my village, but even those of them who had never harmed a fellow man, their homes, their families. When I came to, I saw what I had done, and realized that to my shame I was no better than they. My spirit retreated from its body to the Outer Darkness, the Void, where I remained for centuries, asleep.

"I was awakened finally by a cry for help from a young Kitsune. I recognized in her my own story. She begged me to possess her, to use her as a weapon to destroy the Doctors who had tried to destroy her people, and everyone involved with them. As a creature of the other world who can see all things, I knew in my mind's eye who she wanted me to kill - creatures without a single drop of innocent human blood running through their veins and the monsters they had created. I decided that this vengeance would be fruitful, as the innocent lives saved would outweigh the guilty lives lost. But instead of doing as she had begged and possessing her, I took pity and possessed one of the dead ones beside her. She was foolish, as I had been, and could not see the road it would take her down. I would not let her destroy herself as I had been destroyed.

"After destroying all of the Doctors' works, I went after the innocent ones to lead them out before annihilating my main targets, beings so powerful that our battle would have wiped out everyone around us. But the young foolish one grew angry. Perhaps she thought that I was going to avoid going after her primary concern. She defeated and trapped me before I could finish my task.

"I was held captive inside the Nemeton for almost a century, plagued by visions it showed me of what would happen to this small town because I had failed. It drove me past the breaking point. Whenever I tried to save anyone, it always resulted in more death. Then came a vision of hope. A pack, bearing the symbol of two circles, led by a True Alpha. But the vision did not last before a traitor bearing the face of a friend rose against them and tore them apart from the inside. After that there was nothing but darkness and flame.

"When I was finally released, imagine my surprise when I found that I was in the same time as this very pack's height. I would have warned them of what was coming, but whenever I tried to speak of the visions the words were never able to leave my mouth. I decided to teach them through experience, by possessing one of their own.

"Stiles," Ethan whispered.

Kaida nodded.

"I wanted to see if this pack was truly as great as everyone said they were. I wanted to see how far they'd be willing to go to save everyone they loved. Imagine my surprise when they decided to save everyone, including the one I was possessing."

She laughed quietly.

"Even when I was simply wearing his form they refused to kill me. Strong as they were, they fought me with their minds and not by force, and most shockingly, they won.

"I was able to escape several days ago thanks to Isaac's inherent clumsiness and a very tricky flight of stairs, and am heading back to Beacon Hills now to finish what I started. He decided to go after me, met up with his gorgeous friend on the way, and now here we all are.

"None of what you just said makes up for the fact that you're inherently evil," Ethan growled.

"Evil? I prefer to think of myself as a psychopath with good intentions."

"She's insane, that's for sure," Kate added.

"Oh, look who's talking," Isaac retorted.

"At least I didn't play Fruit Ninja with live humans in a hospital hallway."

"At least I didn't burn my boyfriend's family alive."

"Umm, sorry, are you guys ready to order?"

All six of them instantly shut up, hoping the uncomfortable-looking waitress standing next to their table hadn't heard too much of their conversation.


	6. Super Pack

Driving almost nonstop for 24 hours through the Midwestern United States would be hard on anyone, especially on a group of teenagers with wolves in their heads itching to just run everywhere. Added to this was the fact that Theo, wary of humanity in general as he was, refused to stop for any period of time in populated areas he wasn't familiar with, which lead to his pack inadvertantly making territorial claims on most of the National Park System, much to the chagrin (they imagined) of local wolf populations, and not at all to the liking of the females of the group. Jem was very vocal about this, but Theo stated reasonably that their Alpha was a male, and an Alpha can force pack members to relieve themselves wherever the hell it wants, and as soon as she found a female Alpha she could leave with her pack, and stop at all the rest areas in this country, Canada, Mexico, and wherever else she felt like road tripping. After a look from her led him to believe he might end up being murdered over bathroom preferences, he kicked her to the back of the car with Dana so that the men of the pack could act as a type of safety barrier.

Finally, after having driven through nearly all of Oklahoma, Theo decided that even he needed to sit somewhere that wasn't moving and pulled off at a rundown roadhouse which at this particular moment in this particular story is serving as the Nemeton of Holes-In-The-Wall, drawing together a menagerie of road tripping werewolves, apprentice Druids, newly resurected evil fox spirits, and possibly-alcoholic ex-hunters.

But Theo and his pack didn't know this, of course.

***

"I am going to eat five hamburgers and re-acquaint myself with the sweet porcelain goddess," Jem declared, stumbling out of the car as Dana and her struggled for the door.

"Wait."

Theo immediately blocked them, glaring at the door venemously.

"Oh, relax, big guy. I'm sure they have pasta, chicken and green salads with a side of light dressing."

"What?"

"Because you eat... Oh, god, never mind."

Theo directed his glare on her.

"This isn't about my diet. And for the record, I'm perfectly aware we can't get heart disease and that I can eat whatever I want. I just think grease tastes disgusting."

He returned his never-ending glare to the door of the bar. 

"If you hadn't have been concentrating so hard on annoying me you might have noticed that, besides the staff, there is a cluster in there of three werewolves, some other type of shapeshifter, one human, and something really weird."

"You just named six people but I only hear five heartbeats."

"But there are six different voices. Which means one of them is one hundred percent dead."

"Okay. McDonald's, anyone?" Connor said, trying to scramble back into the car before Blake pulled him down with a yelp.

"Connor," Jem sighed. "It's fine. We're a cohesive pack. They're not. I can't catch an Alpha's scent. Which means that they all probably don't know each other too well, much less get along. And personally, I will feel much more comfortable with other supernatural creatures around."

"Fine," Connor muttered as they started for the door. "But I'm not sitting next to the zombie."

***

The six former Beacon Hills residents/destructors looked up from their dinner suddenly at the sound of a car rolling into the lot, followed by the strong scent of an Alpha. They would probably have ignored it, if the Nogitsune, being naturally more perceptive than them, hadn't appeared slightly unsettled, because an unsettled 1000-year-old divine trickster spirit is a sign that not all is right with this world.

"Kaida?" Isaac asked tentatively.

The Nogitsune remained silent and simply followed the pack with her eyes. The Betas all ignored them, though one cast a nervous look in their direction before hurrying away. The Alpha flashed his eyes at the group in warning before making his way over to the rest of his pack.

"That Alpha. There's something different about him."

"He's a True Alpha?"

"No. He was bitten and then killed an Alpha in the normal way. But while he hasn't been bitten for very long, he's had the ability to shift since he was an adolescent."

"That's not right," Kate stated, narrowing her eyes at the Alpha suspiciously. "A supernatural creature can't be turned by a werewolf's bite. They would reject it."

"And a Kanima would have had to be bitten before turning into a pre-werewolf shapeshifter. Also, I'd be able to sense if it was like me," Jackson stated.

"Unless he's two supernatural creatures coexisting in one form?" Danny suggested.

"That would be in direct conflict with the laws of the supernatural. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to defeat Kaida the first time around," Isaac explained.

Kaida nodded at this.

"You can't been a both a fox and a wolf."

Suddenly, she had a revelation.

"Unless, the laws of the supernatural were bent."

The group had been speaking in very low tones that only they could pick up until this point, but now Kaida raised her voice and directed it at the Alpha in question.

"Chimera."

The Alpha started and his head shot up to meet Kaida's gaze. His pack's eyes followed his, confused, but ready to follow his lead.

A strong feeling of hostility suddenly flooded the room and the whole group shifted about nervously.

Fortunately for everyone involved, Jackson had an epiphany before the two groups could decide whether or not they actually wanted to attack each other.

"Raeken?"

His former schoolmate met his eyes and seemed to let down his guard slightly. 

"Whittemore?"

"Do you two know each other?" Isaac asked incredulously.

Danny laughed suddenly.

"Oh my god, Theo. Of course it's you. Isaac, you remember Theo Raeken, right?"

Isaac's face suddenly broke into a snarl.

"I remember he hung me off the school fence at recess when I tried to kiss Lydia."

Theo rolled his eyes. 

"I also punched Jackson in the face. You're welcome."

"You punched Jackson in the face?" Danny asked, seeming extremely confused.

"Yeah, when he tried to throw Stilinski in the river."

Danny rounded on Jackson.

"You told me you hit your head on the pavement when Ryker pushed you over trying to get away after Stiles' dad showed up."

Jackson suddenly appeared extremely uncomfortable.

"Actually, it was more like I pushed Ryker over, but..."

"Jackson, if you tell me that Theo punched you so hard you developed temporary amnesia, I will never trust you again."

Connor, recognizing that the former classmates were verbally wandering into dangerous territory, decided to avert the situation via casual supernatural conversation.

"So, who's the dead guy?"

Everyone in the group looked extremely confused for a moment before the Nogitsune realized that she had neglected a slightly important detail concerning her new attire.

"Oh, that would be me. I decided that controlling someone's mind was too much effort, so I picked up this lovely piece of work at a morgue. Just so we're all clear, I'm not possessing anyone this time."

"THIS TIME?" Connor all but shrieked, trying to worm his way behind Blake and away from the apparent corpse-wearing demon woman.

"Truth be told, cadaver looks lovely on you," Ethan declared.

Kaida shot a glare at him.

"So you know about chimeras," Theo said, momentarily drawing her attention away from murder. "Then I'm assuming that you're all going back to Beacon Hills because of the Dread Doctors?"

"Yes," Kaida declared, but was barely heard as a result of the overwhelming "Who the hell are the Dread Doctors?" that came from the others.

Theo was extremely puzzled by this.

"But if you aren't going back because of the Dread Doctors, then why are you going back?"

"Well, I for one have no particular idea why, besides the fact that I heard that Beacon Hills has probably turned into the epicenter for the apocalypse and decided it might be a good idea to head back and check on my parents and make sure everyone was alright," Jackson said sincerely.

Theo raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"What the hell happened to you?"

"Oh, you know, the usual. Got killed...multiple times, murdered people for a while but then discovered the power of true love and self realization."

"Good lord, can we skip the schmaltziness?" Jem groaned. "Next!"

Danny and Ethan looked at each other.

"Umm, I'm trying to track down and kill my former Alpha, Deucalion," Ethan said hesitantly. He hadn't exactly informed Danny about the "kill" part of the plan yet, but given his reaction, or lack thereof, his boyfriend had apparently figured that this would probably be part of the plan in the end anyways.

"Deucalion?" Theo asked. "Never heard of him."

"Oh, stop being so formal. You don't know anyone," Dana muttered.

Ethan laughed.

"Well, he's called 'The Demon Wolf', if that tells you anything about his disposition."

"'The Demon Wolf'? That seems slightly excessive."

"Trust me," Isaac said with a shudder. "It isn't."

"Scott told him that if he ever came back on unfriendly terms he'd get his ass kicked. And since it probably is on unfriendly terms and since Scott is my Alpha now..."

"Scott's an Alpha?" Theo asked, shocked.

"A True Alpha, if you can believe that," Jackson added.

"Okay, so we have saving people, hunting things..." Jem interrupted. "And what about you, fellow female?"

"The family business," Kate said.

"Okay, you obviously watch 'Supernatural', but why are you going to Beacon Hills?"

"I'm from a family of werewolf hunters and the first werewolf anyone from our line ever killed is apparently back. And no, I don't watch 'Supernatural'. The Winchesters don't know shit."

"Which family are you from?" Theo asked.

"I'm an Argent."

"But your family were started when they killed.... Oh, no."

"You know the story of La Bête?"

"I wish I didn't. The Dread Doctors have been trying to bring it back for a long time now. They planned on using a chimera as a host body until it could function on its own. They told me I was one of the first steps in the right direction, which is why when I ran away with my parents they sent the other chimera they'd created at the same time as me too.... Shit."

He got up and started pacing back and forth in front of the table, clearly extremely agitated.

"To do what?" Connor asked, trying to prompt him.

"When I was a chimera, I was half werewolf, half were-coyote. Jacob, the other chimera, shared the werewolf base with me, but his other half was that of a Sluagh. The combination gave him unlimited shapeshifting abilities, although the Sluagh part of him made it easier for him to hold form when he wore the form of a person that someone he was around felt guilt for."

"After I escaped, as I said, they sent him after me initially so that he could steal my form so they could continue their experimentation. But once I became a werewolf and then an Alpha, they decided it was too dangerous to let me live. So they sent him after me again, this time to kill me. But he got greedy. He had always been disgusted by the fact that he wasn't a real supernatural creature, and saw his chance to finally become one in stealing my form and then killing me. Unfortunately for him, an Alpha's power is made to been taken, not absorbed. It can only exist in one wolf at a time. The effort broke his power and he lost the ability to change form and became stuck in my body."

"Well, there certainly are worse fates," Jem stated.

Theo gave her a look and she shut up.

"As far as he knows, I'm dead. Fortunately, I was able to hang onto life long enough to be taken to a hospital and eventually be resuscitated. The werewolf healing took care of the rest."

He paused, feeling horror flood through him and trying not to let it show in his pulse or on his face.

'So it was me that night,' he thought. 'Except that it wasn't.'

The Nogitsune gave him a knowing look.

"Scott's dead, isn't he?"

Theo bit his lip, trying not to cry as the others looked up in horror.

Kaida hung her head.

"I tried to warn them," she whispered. "I tried to show them."

"Show us what?" Isaac asked.

"That the person you think is your friend can easily be an enemy wearing a friend's face."

Theo looked back up, new resolve filling him.

"Whatever's happened, it still doesn't change the fact that all of our friends need our help. And if Scott is dead, then we'll all need to band together as one pack. As a super pack. There will most likely still be chimeras that we'll have to fight. None of them die. Not even the one inside La Bête. They're all victims here. And leave Jacob to me. He won't need to be hunted down. He'll find us himself, probably as soon as he finds out we're in town."

"What make you so sure he'll actively seek out a pack of eleven, most of whom are murderous basket cases?" Danny asked, giving the others a critical glance.

"Because Scott became a True Alpha, which means that Jacob couldn't have taken his place by killing him, just as Scott didn't take his place by killing an Alpha. Since he doesn't have what he wants, he'll try his next best shot, which is me."

Theo's eyes suddenly flashed red.

"And believe me, he'll stop at nothing to steal an Alpha's power."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UNLESS YOU'RE INTERESTED IN LINGUISTICS SKIP TO THE BOTTOM SECTION!!!!!
> 
> Just for the record, here's some of the harder-to-pronounce OC character names pronunciations, in case anyone was curious (my friend was, that's why I'm writing this):
> 
> Kaida = ky-EE-dah (Technically. It's basically just kie-dah. Unless you're diehard Japanese.) Meaning is "little dragon" because she is small, but will fight you and light you on fire probably.
> 
> Jemina = jeh-MEE-mah (Yes, the "n" is pronounced "m". I don't know. Hebrew logic. And please don't be my friend and pronounce it like she's a breakfast food figurehead.) Meaning is "right hand" because she's Theo's second and whatever no one cares.
> 
> Jacob = you'd better know how to pronounce this (Seriously, you'd better.) Meaning is "the supplanter" because, duh.
> 
> I promise promise PROMISE that we will arrive in Beacon Hills in the next chapter and the entirety of Theo's tragic backstory will be revealed as well as the reason that this entire fic is tagged "Stiles/Theo." Also, shirtless cuddling (guess who) and more elaboration on why Theo Faeken made Theo Raeken's fourth-grade friends cry (and die....sorta).


	7. Is This What Love Looks Like?

"I'm going to kiss Lydia tomorrow," Stiles finally declared one night, "even if Jackson kills me."

Theo raised an eyebrow at him from where he was sitting against the headboard studying for the next day's history test. 'Oh, no,' he thought to himself. 'How the hell do I talk him out of this?'

"Uh, Stiles?" he began, treading carefully. "You haven't exactly kissed anyone before. Don't you want to make sure you know what you're doing before you go for Lydia? After all, if you really love her, then she deserves the best from you."

Stiles' eyes widened.

"You're right! Quick, who can I kiss before school starts tomorrow?"

Theo groaned, closing his book.

"Stiles, what I meant was you should probably think this through a little more. Particularly the whole 'even if Jackson kills me' part."

"I'm not worried about that. I have you to protect me."

Theo almost choked. God, how did he tell Stiles that he didn't want him to kiss Lydia because _he_  had a crush on him.

"Umm, okay. You're sure you want to do this, then?"

Stiles nodded fervently.

Theo sighed. What was his life coming to?

"Uh, actually, I think I know someone you can practice on," he said quietly.

"Ew, not Erica," Stiles protested, making a face.

Theo laughed.

"I wasn't going to say Erica."

"Who, then?"

Theo blushed, raising his eyes to meet Stiles' shyly.

"Me."

Stiles almost fell off of the bed in shock. Theo wanted to kiss him? Theo? Wasn't basically every girl (and guy) in the school half in love with him? And he wanted to kiss Stiles?

"Y...you want to kiss me?" he stammered, turning red in the face.

"Yeah," Theo said gently, smiling across at him.

Stiles slowly began to inch his way across the bed towards Theo, certain that Theo would just push him backwards and laugh and say it had just been a joke. But as soon he got close enough, Theo set his book aside and grabbed Stiles' wrist gently, pulling him forward onto his lap. Stiles let out a small squeak, his ears burning. He couldn't even bring himself to look up at Theo's face. He'd known he'd had a crush on Theo ever since Mrs. McCall had told him. He had asked her why he always felt tingly and sometimes couldn't breath around Theo because he'd been worried it was some sort of disease. He definitely wasn't breathing right now.

"Hey," Theo said softly, gently grasping Stiles' chin and tilting his head up to face him. "What are you so scared of?"

"You."

Theo looked surprised.

"Me?"

"No, not you. Kissing you. Like, I don't know... It's that I don't know. About you. Or about us. Or why I like you. Or..."

Stiles gulped. He couldn't believe he'd just said that! How could he have let that slip?

Theo just laughed.

"Stiles, shut up."

Stiles felt his eyes close, and then moments later Theo's lips descend on his. To his surprise, it didn't feel that weird at all, other than weird in that it was unexpected. Theo's lips were soft, much softer than he'd imagined them to be, and Theo was so gentle that it was almost impossible to notice that he'd once beaten up kids like Stiles for fun. Or perhaps it was that fact that made his gentleness so much more appealing than it would have been coming from a girl.

As Theo started to deepen the kiss, Stiles suddenly remembered why they were kissing and pushed Theo off of him, vaguely annoyed.

"We're supposed to be practicing me kissing Lydia," he said, glaring at his friend. "And Lydia would never kiss me first, and never like that."

Theo smirked at him.

"So you're going to kiss _me_ , then?"

"Uhh..."

Stiles stared up at Theo's lips, completely stupefied, for what felt like a good minute.

Theo chuckled.

"What are you staring at me for? She's not going to help you."

Stiles scrunched his mouth in determination and lunged up at Theo's face. As soon as their lips met, much to Stiles's shock and annoyance, Theo started to pull away. Twisting their bodies so that they weren't leaning against the headboard anymore, Stiles pushed Theo down onto the bed. Before he knew what he was doing, he had his hands in Theo's pressed down on either side of Theo's head and his tongue in Theo's mouth. He broke away in shock and Theo started laughing hysterically.

"I think...I think that Lydia might find that a little too aggressive for a first kiss," he snickered.

"Shut up," Stiles said with a glare, and leaned down to kiss him again.

They continued to practice until far past their bedtime (with much teasing on Theo's part, much protesting on Stiles', and plenty of giggling between both of them), so it came as no particular surprise when Theo's mom finally knocked on his bedroom door.

"Boys!"

They both froze.

"Yeah?" Theo called back.

"You'd both better get to bed right now! Because if I have to explain to the Sheriff that his son failed a test because he didn't get enough sleep on a school night, Theo, you'll be grounded for a month! Do you hear me?"

"Yes, mom!"

They had the lamp switched off and had dived beneath the covers in an instant.

After Theo's mom's footsteps have faded away, Stiles spoke up softly.

"Theo?"

"Mmm-hmm?"

"I think I actually should wait to kiss Lydia for a while."

"Good. You suck at kissing anyways."

Stiles panicked and jolted upright in bed but Theo just laughed and pulled him tightly against him.

"I was just joking! You were fantastic," he whispered, kissing the top of Stiles' head.

They both lay silent like this for a few minutes before Theo finally asked the question that had been burning at the back of his mind. 

"Umm, Stiles? Why did you change your mind?"

Stiles, apparently, was already mostly asleep, so Theo shook him slightly.

"Stiles!"

"Wha...?"

"Why did you change your mind?"

Stiles didn't answered at first and instead opted to snuggle closer to Theo. Eventually, he mumbled, "Because I think I might love you more."

Stiles fell asleep as Theo let a grin spread across his face. Finally, they were both on the same page.

***

Several hundred miles away and many years later, Theo awoke suddenly. Why was his mind even bothering to remind him about what he and Stiles had had in the fourth grade? They'd both moved on a long time ago. Or rather, Theo had thought he had.

With a sigh he rolled over and stared out the car window. They were traveling caravan-style now, with Jackson's Porsche in front followed by Isaac and Kaida in a Land Rover they'd picked up somewhere but definitely didn't own, Theo's pack in his SUV, and Kate's Camaro, with Danny and Ethan on Ethan's motorcycle and Aiden's former one bringing up the rear. They'd hit the New Mexico border and were traveling through the desert right now. There were no city lights for miles around, and the stars were unusually bright here. Kate's quick thinking had led to Isaac's distribution of two-way dashboard mounted radios that Mr. Argent had lent him, which is why when Jackson eventually called in everyone was paying attention.

"Uh, Kate, do aliens exist? Because I think that we might be running into 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind'."

"No, they don't. And we're not anywhere near Wyoming so I have no idea why you would even.... Jesus Christ!"

Everyone's vehicles suddenly came to a screeching halt as a bolt of lightning suddenly struck the road in front of them, and stared in shock and confusion at what appeared to be a huge thunderstorm descending upon a rock formation several miles in front of them. 

"Are you sure about the alien thing, Kate? Because it's either that or the wrath of God."

"No," Kaida said softly. "It's two kitsune. Very powerful kitsune."

"Oh, great," Ethan groaned.

"They're not Nogitsune, like me, but one of them is extremely unstable. I suggest we turn back and head north and around."

"But what's a kitsune doing in the middle of New Mexico?" Theo questioned.

"Why does La Bête eat people?"

"I don't know. And what does that even have to do with the question?"

"The point that you don't know every detail about every member of your species and neither do I."

"I thought you could read minds and stuff?"

"First of all, it's not mind reading, it's perceiving. And it's hard for a kitsune to read a fellow kitsune. For those of us who are more experienced, getting a read on you lower beings is no problem if we want to. How do you think we can get inside your heads so easily?"

"Well, that's not reassuring at all," Connor muttered.

"So, what do you guys think?" Jem, who was driving, asked. "Do we go forward and die, or do we turn around and live but kill more of the planet instead?"

"I'll live, but the fight will probably kill anything in the general vicinity, and probably end up incinerating our physical forms," Kaida elaborated.

"That never happened when you met Mrs. Yukimura back when you were first around," Isaac interjected.

"Well, now you know why. She was trying to keep people from dying and I can't draw pain from from a post-apocalyptic wasteland, so it would have been a lose-lose situation."

"Okay, we're heading around," Theo stated.

No one in the group was suicidal enough to continue, so the band followed his orders, making their way back onto the road and heading back and north. Theo, after another half hour of driving, gradually fell asleep again.

***

"Why do you always have the worst ideas?" Theo grunted, scrambling down a rickety metal ladder with one hand while clutching his skateboard with the other.

"It's fine!" Stiles called up to him. "I come down here all the time!"

Theo rolled his eyes, dropping down next to his friend. Stiles had finally kept his promise of taking Theo with him to skateboard at the old water treatment plant, a decision Theo immediately regretted when he realized that it looked more like the set of a zombie movie than an improvised skating rink.

"And you're sure no one's down here?"

Stiles gave him a look that was clearly supposed to convey the fact that he thought Theo's idea was stupid, even though he'd never say so to his face.

"Do you really think I'd trespass on property that other people were on?"

Theo sighed.

"You've done stupider things before," he muttered, trailing after Stiles down the tunnels.

Thirty minutes into their illegal playdate, Stiles was regretting his decision even more than Theo had been.

They had been enjoying themselves deep in the plant, when suddenly a man's voice echoed through the tunnels.

"This is the Beacon County Sheriff's Department! I want whoever's down there to come out right now with your hands in the air!"

"Shit! That's my dad!" Stiles hissed.

Theo had been attempting a flip off a small flight of stairs, slipped, and fell with a clatter.

"This is Deputy Stilinski with the Beacon Country Sheriff's department! Come out right now!"

"Theo, listen to me, okay? You take your skateboard and run. Just keep running until you're as far inside as you can and then hide until we're gone."

"What about you?"

"I think my dad's sorta given up on me by now. He'll just be annoyed with me. But I don't want you to get in trouble."

Theo was perfectly alright with this logic and immediately snatched up his skateboard and sprinted off into the tunnels. He didn't stop running until he was near collapsing. He immediately crouched in a corner and waited patiently until what felt like a decent amount of time had passed, or at least enough for Stiles and his dad to have left. Either way, he could at least sneak up to the entrance to check. Unfortunately, this was when he realized that he had absolutely no idea where exactly the entrance was.

"Shit," he muttered, glancing back the way he had come. He had no idea how many turns he had made, or even the general direction he had been going in. He decided that his only option was to wander back the way he thought he had come and hope that if he hadn't made it out by the next day that Stiles would have the wits to tell his dad that he was probably lost down there. Then again, Stiles would also be perfectly willing to believe that Theo had run off to join a band of Indians if someone were to suggest it to him.

After what felt like close to an hour of wandering, Theo threw his skateboard down on the ground in frustration and sat down next to it. Here he was, lost in a maze of tunnels, his life in the hands of a kid with such severe ADHD that he would probably forget where he and Theo had even been the day before by tomorrow morning, which meant he was going to die by starving to death in an abandoned water treatment plant. There were certainly more glamorous ways to go, Theo imagined.

To this day he had no idea what prompted him to look up at the wall opposite him to see a strange circular snake symbol carved into the wall opposite him. And also to this day he had no idea what prompted him to cross the tunnel, reach out, and turn it. And he would never know, for the rest of his entire life, what possessed him to think it was a good idea to investigate what was behind the hidden door that swung open nearby.

The first thing he noticed upon entering was the smell. It reminded him of a hospital - not the one where Mrs. McCall worked, but what a hospital would have smelled like back when they killed more people than they saved. There was no clean, antiseptic smell, just the acrid scent of chemicals and fumes which he neither could identify nor wanted to. As his eyes slowly adjusted to the dim greenish light, he realized that he had been at least partially correct. Everything inside seemed to be very old medical equipment, most of which he didn't recognize. The general ambience, however, gave him the feeling that this was less a place of healing and more of a torture chamber. Then, he looked up to a large tank across the room, and saw the body.

Stumbling backwards in horror, he ran back for the door, but found that it had disappeared behind him. There wasn't even a seam left. Panicking he slammed his fists into the wall, screaming Stiles' name over and over again.

"Stiles! Stiles, you need to help me! I'm trapped! Stiles? Stiles, help me!"

That was when he heard them a whirring and clicking filling the air followed by an electric crackle. He whirled around to find a tall masked figure standing behind him. With a shriek, he fell backwards against two others who had suddenly appeared behind him. These two grabbed him, dragging him upright. The one in front of him stepped forward, and there was a sharp pain as a large needle was stabbed deep into his neck. They dropped him and he fell to the floor, the world around him becoming blurred.

"Stiles."

Before he could do or say anything more, Theo was unconscious.

When he finally awoke, he found himself strapped down to an examination chair in the center of the room. He tugged on the straps desperately, but they didn't give even a little.

"You'll have to try harder than that," a familiar voice said next to him.

Jerking his head to the side, he found himself face to face with none other than Stiles Stilinski.

"Stiles!" he gasped. "Help me!"

Stiles laughed. 

"Unfortunately for you, Stiles is probably already at home by now."

"What?"

Theo's brain felt fairly cloudy at the moment, and he was fairly certain he was hallucinating, but he decided to carry on the conversation with non-Stiles just to try and keep himself from going completely insane. 

"It was extremely complicated trying to get you here, you know. Lot's of planning. Lot's of observing. Stealing a deputy's uniform was particularly tricky. But after that, it was just a matter of waiting for you two to come down here, having his "dad" catch both of you, and getting you all by yourself. We already knew he would more than likely make you hide rather than get you in trouble. He'll be none the wiser about it. Making him walk all the way home seemed like a very reasonable punishment to him. He didn't even ask where the car was. And if you tell him about it, we'll make sure he doesn't live to tell anyone else."

Suddenly, Stiles' face shifted into his own. Theo jerked as far away as the straps would allow him, shocked and slightly terrified.

"How did you...?"

"Guess what, Theo. All the monsters that you thought were just figments of your imagination, everything you thought lurked in the corners of your room at night or wandered the forest during the full moon? They're all real."

"You're...you're a shapeshifter?"

His own face laughed back at him.

"Oh no, Theo. I'm much better than that. You see, I was made. I was perfected. I'm the work of science, not magic,"  - he scoffed at this - "and we think that you'd be perfect for this procedure as well."

"What procedure?"

"The doctors will turn you into a genetic chimera. Then they'll transform you into a supernatural hybrid. They believe that a werewolf-werecoyote cross would match you disposition very well."

"What's a genetic chimera?"

Theo was honestly more confused about all the scientific gibberish that his own face was yammering on about than he was freaking out over the discovery of the supernatural. He'd just found a medical facility from the 1800s in an abandoned water treatment plant and been attacked by three people who looked like they'd morphed out of the cover of a steampunk novel and was now talking to a kid whose face kept shifting from his friend's to his own. Werewolves just seemed like a natural progression from here. 

"A creature with two sets of DNA."

"But I don't..."

"We know you don't. That's why we need your sister. Or, more specifically, her heart."

"But...but that would..."

"Kill her? Absolutely. Hypothermia would probably be the best bet. It preserves the organs better. It doesn't get cold enough for that too often around her. You might need to convince your family to go on a ski trip further north this winter, just to play it safe."

Theo slammed up against the restraints, almost succeeding in knocking the entire exam chair over. 

"You're not touching my sister!" he screamed.

"Of course we aren't. That's going to be your job. Something about "ensuring loyalty." Whatever. I don't make the rules."

"I won't kill my sister," Theo snarled. "Not for this."

"It actually won't be that bad. The doctors are working on a reviving formula right now. So they'll just bring her back."

Theo looked extremely skeptical at this.

His double laughed again.

"Alright, let's look at it this way. Something big is going to happen soon. Something that will probably destroy Beacon Hills and everyone in it. You can become a chimera and be able to protect your friends, or you can let this happen."

Grabbing the edge of the exam chair, he spun Theo around so that he was facing the wall behind him. Theo gaped in horror at the grisly mural painted across it.

"Just imagine, Theo. Everyone you've loved, everyone you've ever cared about - you classmates, their families, Scott, Stiles - all dead, and you could have stopped it. But your sister's still alive, at least. Except no, she's dead too, because you weren't willing to take a chance. I'm sure she'd be real proud of you too."

"Shut up," Theo said, close to tears.

"Oh geez," his double said contemptuously. "You don't have to decide today. We'll give you some time to think about it."

With that, he stabbed a second needle into Theo's neck and he fell unconscious again.

When he awoke again, he was lying outside the water treatment plant, his skateboard next to him. It was night already, with the stars and a full moon shining overhead. Shuddering, he stood groggily. He would have believed it had all been a dream if it wasn't for the throbbing pain still residing in his neck. With tears running down his face, he ran into the woods across the parking lot and kept running until he was as far away as possible, then collapsed on the forest floor, sobbing. He stayed there all night, until the sun finally rose above the trees. 


	8. Full Circle

Theo and his pack, along with their companions, were currently holed up in the abandoned bank that Ethan and his pack had chosen as their headquarters when they were first in Beacon Hills. Not only was it positioned over the telluric currents, which Danny was fairly familiar with, having done his research paper on them in their Junior year, but the alley in back had an entrance to the sewers, which Kate knew like the back of her hand. They had determined early on that La Bête was using these tunnels to move around without detection. Unfortunately, they were thrown for a loop when it finally left the tunnels and attacked the hospital and numerous civilians in plain sight.

"It's not hiding anymore, that's for sure," Jem muttered. She and Theo were standing off to the side of the aftermath of the freeway attack, staring grimly at the burning wreckage. Theo instinctively shrank into his hood and turned slightly as one of the Beacon Hills deputies passed close by.

"Skittish much?"

"Better safe than sorry. God knows what Jacob's been up to since he arrived in town, and I'm not going to jail because a shapeshifter decided to murder someone while wearing my face. That probably won't hold up in court very well."

"And you're going to prove you're actually you how, exactly?"

"My eyes. And the fact that he'll turned back to his original form once he's dead."

"You sure about that?"

"Fairly certain."

"Fantastic. What's Kaida come up with at the hospital?"

Theo glanced down at his messages. 

"Almost the entire fourth floor was burnt out. Apparently La Bête shifted back to human form, but she said the prints are so marred that they're near useless. Also, that there was some other entity there besides La Bête, more similar to her. Very old, very powerful, and the two seemed to be in conflict. And the entire crime scene is closed, so we can forget about visiting it ourselves."

"How did she get in?"

"She hitched a ride on one of the deputies, so to speak."

Jem sighed.

"The ability to possess people should be a job requirement for all spy networks."

"At least we know that La Bête is getting bolder and that there's something just as big and bad fighting it. Now let's head back before someone spots us."

As they walked away from the scene, Jem said casually, "So basically we're just trying to kill this thing, right?"

"No," Theo said sharply.

Jem looked over at him, startled.

"Theo, I think you're forgetting that I'm supposed to be the morally ambiguous one. This thing's killing innocent people. Don't you want to stop it?"

"Yes, I do. But that doesn't negate the fact that there's an innocent teenager in there who doesn't have any idea what he or she is doing. We want to destroy La Bête, not the chimera the Dread Doctors used to be its vessel."

"Now this is brand new information. How do you know that they're using a teen chimera to house La Bête, or whatever?"

Theo sighed.

"Because that vessel was supposed to be me."

***

Looking back now, Theo was of course horrified by what he had had to do in order to become a chimera, but at the time he had been perfectly fine with it. He would become powerful and be able to save his friends from whatever was coming, his sister would come back anyways, and Stiles would have his mom again. It seemed like a no-brainer.

It was afterwards, however, that everything began to fall apart.

The Dread Doctors kept their promise to attempt to resurrect his sister. But while they were able to reanimate her body, she herself wasn't there anymore. Only a mindless animal remained which slowly descended further and further into beast-like ferocity, despite his constant attempts to restore her to her former self. In the end, Theo had been forced to kill her again, since he wasn't able to see her like this anymore. Bringing back Stiles' mom was now out of the question as well.

The break in the deal was when the Dread Doctors eventually informed him that, since he was their greatest success, that they would eventually use him to bring back their greatest creation, La Bête du Gévaudan. Unfortunately for them, Jacob, the other chimera, had already informed him that La Bête was one of the creatures in the mural which together would bring destruction to Beacon Hills, one of the creatures he was supposed to be defending his friends against.

Desperate to escape this horrifying situation, he turned to his parents for help. Surprisingly, after he told them everything that had happened and showed them what he'd become, they'd been hurt but forgiving, and agreed to leave Beacon Hills forever and use his sister's death as an excuse. Without saying a word to anyone, lest the Dread Doctors should somehow hear of their plans, they up and left one day without any warning and without time for any goodbyes. Theo had even decided to forego saying goodbye to Stiles and Scott, not wanting to accidentally drag them into this terrible world he'd discovered, though it appeared now that they'd proved perfectly capable of dragging themselves into it on their own.

He and his parents had lived as fugitives, constantly bouncing from town to town, hoping to throw the Dread Doctors off their trail. To their surprise, it appeared that the Dread Doctors weren't interested in following them. Finally, relieved at this fortunate turn of events, they settled down in a small town in upstate New York. But then they learned that the Dread Doctors had been playing them this whole time.

Jacob arrived in town one night and cornered Theo, with the purpose of stealing his current form. The reason, he explained, was because the Dread Doctors didn't have the patience to corral a discontent chimera, and that this way they could continue to operate on their success. But, as it turned out, Jacob was not there to kill Theo. That would be taken care of on its own. Without the Dread Doctors constantly monitoring his condition, he would eventually deteriorate and die. After a brief attempt at a fight, Jacob escaped and disappeared from their lives seemingly for forever.

However, they soon learned that he was right. A few months after he had received his final treatment, Theo's body began leaking large amounts of mercury and he lost the ability to heal. Panicked, his parents reached out to anyone who could possibly help them, and eventually found a solution in the form of a Druid working as a surgeon in Manhattan. As they learned, the Dread Doctors had previously operated in the northeastern United States in the 1960s. The Druid and her associate, Dr. Gabriel Valack, had become obsessed with finding out the truth behind what the Dread Doctors where doing and how to stop it. She informed the Raekens that she believed that she had found a way to cure a person of being a chimera and restore them to their human state. But this operation had never been tested before, and she stated that, while it could cure Theo, it could just as well kill him. Theo pointed out that, since he was going to die anyways, they might as well go ahead with the procedure.

Despite everyone's initial misgivings, the operation proved to be a success. Theo became a human again, and immediately began to recover in health. Unfortunately, the surgeon never revealed just what she had done in order to accomplish this, because a week later she was killed, and the secret died with her.

She and Theo had been doing one of their routine checkups in her office after hours, when they found themselves attacked by the Alpha whose pack she served as an emissary. He claimed that he'd been given an offer he couldn't refuse - to grow in power by killing his entire pack and then join a pack made up only of other Alphas. But when it came to killing Theo, he made a mistake. The Alpha decided that, instead of simple killing the unfortunate human bystander, to give him the bite and then kill his new Beta, adding even more to his power. What he didn't expect was for Theo, who had already learned to control such powers as a Chimera, to instantly take control and shift, taking the Alpha by surprise and killing him. To this day, Theo figured it had to be some kind of record for a Beta to become an Alpha within 30 seconds of being bitten. 

When the Dread Doctors learned of this, they sent Jacob after Theo again, this time to kill him. Jacob, however, let his greed take over, and this became his downfall. He only saw being a Chimera as a stepping stone to becoming a real werewolf and was furious that Theo had achieved this before he had. He therefore decided that he would not only kill Theo, he would steal his Alpha form. But an Alpha's power isn't made to be taken by non-werewolves, and the strain of the effort nearly broke Jacob and destroyed his powers, rendering him unable to shift out of Theo's chimera form and leaving that form degraded. He did succeed in seemingly killing Theo by pushing him off the roof of the warehouse he had lured him into. Unbeknownst to Jacob, Theo managed to drag himself to the nearest hospital. Despite his power of healing, Theo was so badly damaged that he remained in a coma for several months as his body slowly repaired itself. After he healed, he decided to use his Alpha status to bring together a group of werewolves just as damaged as he was to give them a chance to redeem themselves and, in the end, to help him defeat the Dread Doctors, who as far as he knew believed him to be dead.

It had been a long and strenuous journey so far, but now he was finally close to achieving his goal.

***

"There's no way we'll ever find them," Danny said, frustrated.

He and Ethan had spent the day with Kate plotting out the telluric currents along with La Bête's most likely routes to try to determine if there was any way it could be tracked.

"Huh?" Connor, who was attempting to help them, muttered.

"There's no pattern. Even if they were operating along the telluric currents, they don't match up with where La Bête has apparently been going."

"But it isn't bound to the telluric currents."

"And neither are the Dread Doctors."

Everyone looked up at Theo, who had just spoken. He and Jem had finally returned from their investigation, accompanied by Kaida.

"Even though the telluric currents complement their frequency at times, they are not strictly bound to it. And you're correct. La Bête isn't either. What you need to be looking for is a pattern of locations that emit a specific wavelength - infrared waves, ultraviolet waves, x-rays, radio waves, gamma rays...."

"So we're looking for the Incredible Hulk?" Ethan said sarcastically.

"If you want to look at it that way, then yes. The Incredible Hulk's power was amplified after Bruce Banner was exposed to gamma radiation. As a chimera, La Bête is programmed to fit a certain frequency. There is a specific type of wave that will amplify its abilities. The Dread Doctors would want it to be exposed to that type of wavelength as much as possible so that it will get increasingly stronger."

"Alright, so it attacked the hospital. That would be x-rays."

"It also attacked a bunch of cars and the school."

"And a cell transmitter tower. At least, that's what was in the police records," Kaida added.

"Theo, there is absolutely no frequency that applies to all of these locations."

"Will you all just shut up and let me think!"

Theo paced about for a bit growing more agitated by the minute. Suddenly, he had a revelation.

"They don't all have to be the same frequency."

"What?"

"Okay, so the hospital has pagers and both it and the school have a PA system. The cars on the freeway had radios. The cell transmitter tower is pretty much self explanatory."

He paused.

"They don't all need to be the same frequency because the Dread Doctors are broadcasting that frequency themselves. All they need is a transmitter."

Suddenly the entire group was pouring over maps of Beacon Hills and soon had every place in Beacon Hills with a high quantity of transmitter devices marked down, paying the closest attention to any electronics stores, the radio station and the Sheriff's Department.

"Now what do we do?" said Kate exasperatedly. "We don't even know where it will strike next."

"For now," Theo said, trying to looked less frustrated than he felt, "we wait."

***

For the next two days, Theo used his current pack's high numbers to his advantage, monitoring every location that could possibly be used to turn La Bête and send it on a rampage. Kaida was nearly stretched to her limit, leaving her corpse body in a corner of the bank most of the time and astral projecting in and out of most of the residents of Beacon Hills. Finally, her body woke up again.

"Hey, Theo?"

The Alpha nearly jumped out of his skin at the unexpected voice near him.

"You really need to stop doing that."

"So I was just over at the radio station. There's going to be a lacrosse game tonight at the school, and there will be vans there broadcasting live."

In a matter of minutes, the whole pack was gathered at the bank for what Theo decided would have to suffice as a debriefing. 

"Okay, so this might just be a false alarm, but I want everyone there just to be sure. Not only will this be a location high in transmitters, there will also be a lot of people there with cameras and phones and basically every other recording device in existence, so despite the fact that there will probably be a fanged behemoth tearing apart the field, try to stay relatively under the radar. Some of us could probably benefit from this more than others." 

He glanced pointedly at Kate as he said this.

"Now I want to make this perfectly clear. If you see me and I happen to have yellow eyes, don't go anywhere near me. And if La Bête attacks or if the Dread Doctors show up, leave them to Kaida and me. There's no need to let more people get hurt than we need to. Your focus will be getting everyone as far away from the field as quickly as possible. Also, you are not to hurt or kill a single Chimera. They're only the victims of all this and are no more to blame than anyone else in Beacon Hills."

"What about La Bête?" Jackson asked.

"Whoever's in there is a victim too. If we can't get them to take control of their powers, then we'll have to take those powers away. In other words, turn that Chimera back to a human."

"Is that even possible?" Kate said skeptically.

Theo looked up at the group gathered in front of him.

"If there was a way to save me, then we sure as hell can find a way to save them."


	9. Sound Of Your Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You showed me heaven, you rang up bells  
> I played with matches, it hurt like hell  
> I sleep and wake, you're all I see  
> I can't escape you, can't set you free  
> I miss your full moon rising, catching a breath in silence  
> Can't stop this feeling, can't stop believing  
> Baby, I'm in love with you  
> I'm missing the sound of your heart beating  
> Baby, you were mine to lose
> 
> Say the words, baby, I'll come running
> 
> \- Shawn Hook, "Sound of Your Heart" lyrics excerpt

Theo and his companions were nearing the school when a piercing shriek suddenly had them all on the ground clutching their ears. They weren't particularly sure when it cleared since their ears kept ringing for a while, but when they were certain it had stopped they picked themselves back up, several of them slightly staggering from ruptured eardrums that quickly healed.

"What the hell was that?" Isaac exclaimed. He'd stumbled back into a tree and was now leaning on it heavily, trying to regain his balance.

The entire group immediately looked to Theo, who was staring towards the school, jaw clenched, a shadow over his face.

"We're too late," he muttered. "It beat us here."

No one had to ask what exactly it was. They all knew, and any doubt they'd possibly had was cleared by the loud roar that suddenly came from the direction of the lacrosse field, followed by the sound of dozens of people screaming.

"Umm, Kate?" Ethan asked tentatively. "Just how big is this thing supposed to be?"

Kate was saved from answering by Danny, who had been pouring over books as soon as they'd rolled into town.

"Remember when you and Aiden could join together? Multiply that by four and paint it as a fully shifted Alpha."

"Jesus Christ," Isaac hissed under his breath.

"Well, we're not just going to stand here," Theo growled. "Let's move!"

The entire pack charged through the gap in the trees to the edge of the school property, leaping the fence with ease.

"Okay, Danny, you try to get as many people away from the school as possible. I want all the werewolves and Kate covering the entrances. Kaida, you stay with them and keep an eye out for the Dread Doctors. They'll probably be somewhere nearby observing. I'm going to take my pack in to meet La Bête up close and personal. Any questions?"

"Umm, how do we know it's going into the school?" Jackson asked.

"Doesn't everything?" Kaida remarked before taking off for the front of the school followed by the others.

***

Scott was going after the Beast, Malia and Kira were missing for the time being, Lydia and Parrish hadn't showed up, Brett and his sister had gotten separated from the pack in the initial stampede, Corey and Mason had last been seen by the buses where the Beast first appeared, Liam might be dying, and Hayden was entirely focused on him. At this point, Stiles was pretty much just done with this entire evening. If he could speak to his former self before all this horrifying stuff had happened, he would probably tell him to suck up all the running he'd have to do during each practice and game because everything was so much worse when you actually had to run _from_ something.

He'd stepped away from Liam and Hayden a short while ago to give them some space. It almost made him jealous to watch them. It seemed that everyone had someone now except for him, now that Malia was in an exclusive relationship with revenge. And the only person who he'd ever felt had really loved him like that was, well, it didn't seem worth thinking about. It was fairly clear that Theo no longer thought about him like that. There hadn't even been a single mention of their former relationship, even all the times they'd spent alone. It had seemed like there were hints at times, such as when Theo had told him that he'd come back for him too. But in the end, Theo had just wanted him as a means to an end, as a pawn in the game he was playing for power. He'd known deep down that the old Theo wasn't there anymore the moment he'd showed up, hence his mistrust. But he'd never stopped hoping that somewhere in Theo was a small spark of who he used to be, and that if he just tried hard enough he could wake him up again. Obviously he hadn't be successful in this endeavor. It was just like his mother all over again.

He cleared his throat softly.

"Umm, guys?" 

The two younger teens looked over to him with somewhat annoyed expressions on their faces.

"It seems quiet out there now. I'm going to go see what's going on. I'll be back in a bit."

Without waiting for a reply, he strode over to the door, exited the room, and closed it behind him. Had he actually been listening to seen if everything had blown over? No. Was he half hoping that the Beast might actually find him and end this? Absolutely.

As it turned out, he'd been correct. The halls down at this end of the school were eerily quiet. In a chilling way, it reminded him of the time that Peter had trapped him, Scott, Allison, Lydia, and Jackson in the school back in that first year. Particularly the part where there was a giant monster lurking in the shadows somewhere out there. Unless it had already left, which he doubted.

Wandering away from the relative safety of the classroom, he began to travel up and down the halls of the school, searching for any signs of life, but there were none to be found. The school appeared to be completely deserted. But after several minutes he heard the sound of footsteps speeding towards him. Whirling around, he saw Hayden running down the hall towards him.

"Stiles!" she yelled. "We need to go!"

"Why? Where's Liam?"

"He went to go help Scott. But after he left, they showed up."

Stiles' heart sank in his chest. He'd been wrong. This evening had gotten worse.

"Are they after you?"

"Yes, but not like that. I think their just trying to keep as many of us from attacking the Beast as possible."

The sound of the Dread Doctors approach was audible now. Stiles looked up at the three figures approaching them in horror, but was also filled with a strange sort of curiosity. He'd never seen them before, and had only heard them passing when he and Lydia had hid from them in Eichen House. 

Quickly, he and Hayden backed towards the end of the hall, but despite how slow the Dread Doctors appeared, they were practically on top of them in a matter of seconds. The tallest one, who Stiles knew to be the Surgeon, raised his cane as if to strike both of them. But the blow never came, and there was a resounding clang instead. The pair looked up in shock to see a katana fixed between them and the cane. To their surprise, it wasn't Kira or her mother who was wielding the weapon, but a tall girl with dirty blonde hair and deathly pale skin whom neither of them recognized, especially in light of the fact that her eyes appeared to be coated in mercury. But it became abundantly clear that she was no chimera when she suddenly bared gleaming silver fangs at the Dread Doctors, fangs that had haunted Stiles' nightmares for a long time.

"You!" he gasped.

"Yeah, yeah. Try and stay out of the way, will you?"

With that, she swung up sharply, sending the Dread Doctor stumbling backwards into his fellows. The other male doctor appeared to create some sort of electromagnetic shield projected from his glove in front of the other two. The Nogitsune laughed.

"Do you seriously think that's going to stop me?"

Stepping up to the barrier, she simply reached through it like there was nothing there, grabbing the Dread Doctor's glove. There was a crackle of electricity and the field broke, ricocheting back into the walls with a resounding crack. Several large seams opened in the cement and the lockers that were nearby started to smoke. Stiles and Hayden both fell to the floor, stunned. His vision blurred, Stiles trying to really on his hearing to figure out what was going on. That's when he heard a new voice.

"Kaida! I told you to defend yourself, not bring down the building!"

"But they had an electromagnetic field set up!"

"They were retreating!"

"Theo."

Stiles almost felt his heart stop in his chest. He was just hearing things. The Dread Doctors hadn't said his name. He was not teamed up with the Nogitsune.

His vision clearing, Stiles looked up to see his worse fears confirmed. Theo Raeken and the Nogitsune, side by side, as a team. 

"Get out!" Theo snarled at them.

Surprisingly, after a last glance at the Nogitsune, the Dread Doctors backed away and faded into the night.

"What the hell were you thinking?"

"I was saving people, thank you very much."

"With an exponential amount of collateral damage."

"Isn't that what all superheroes do?"

"Theo?" Hayden murmured, sitting up. "What's going on?"

Theo turned to her, confusion written all over his face.

"Who the hell are you?"

Hayden gaped at him, to stunned for words. Stiles, on the other hand, had just about had it. Staggering to his feet, he confronted the apparent amnesiac face to face.

"You know, I have had it with you."

The confusion on Theo's face grew.

"Stiles? What in the..."

Before he had time to think, Theo found himself on the hallway floor attempting to protect himself from getting punched in the face. 

"Stiles, look, I know that when we last met it wasn't under the best of circumstances..."

"Do you live solely to make understatements?" Stiles hissed, attempting to get one of his fists past Theo's quick reflexes.

"Okay, so it was under the worst circumstances. Look, can't we just talk?"

Stiles laughed.

"You can't actually be serious?" he scoffed swinging down again. This time, he actually made contact with Theo's jaw. With a snarl, Theo grabbed Stiles, nearly throwing him off. Scrambling to his feet at the same time as Stiles, the pair stared daggers at each other, watched by a very confused Hayden and Kaida, who was delighted by the exorbitant amount of chaos and confusion that was welling up around her.

"So you don't want to talk?" Theo said softly. "Alright then." - there was the snick of claws elongating - "We can punch it out."

To his surprise, instead of immediately backing down, Stiles flew at him. Once more, Theo simply tried to fend him off. 

"Can you get her out of her?" he shouted to Kaida. She nodded, jerking Hayden to her feet and dragging her off to the exit.

"You ruined everything," Stiles growled at him. "You're evil, you're selfish, and you're a liar."

Gritting his teeth, Theo grabbed both of Stiles' wrists, crossing them and holding the other boy still. But even physically defeated, Stiles could still fight with his mouth. 

"You know, there are times when I wonder if you even have a heart. But then I remember that you have your sister's."

Unbeknownst to Stiles, a taunt that would have meant next to nothing to Jacob meant everything to Theo. Almost forgetting that the person he was fighting was a friend, Theo shifted, throwing Stiles back into the wall. Stooping over him, he grabbed the front of Stiles' shirt, he dragged him up, claws shredding through the fabric, until his face was mere inches from Theo's fangs.

"Yes, I killed my sister. I became a Chimera. And do you know why, Stiles? Do you know why I did that? I made a deal to try and bring back _your_ mom. Everything I've done has only been for you. I lost my friends, I lost my sister, I lost my childhood, all trying to protect you. You just had to go after Lydia that one day, didn't you? You just had to make me like you with your stupid smile and laugh and freckles. If I'd never met you, I'd still have a life and a family. I'm not the murderer here, Stiles. You are."

Everything suddenly started to come together in Stiles' head and his own words replayed in his mind as he looked up into crimson eyes. _I knew Theo in the fourth grade. That isn't Theo._

But this was.

"Y...you came back," he choked out, trying to hold back tears.

"Obviously I shouldn't even have bothered," Theo ground out, starting to stand up. Stiles' hand suddenly shot up and grabbed Theo's arm, holding him in place. 

"Wait, I didn't... I thought..."

Stiles hung his head.

"I thought you were him."

Realization suddenly came crashing over Theo like a tidal wave. So Stiles had been dragged into Jacob's scheme as well. He'd been assuming that since Stiles was human that Jacob would have left him alone and gone after the others individually. It wasn't like him to go after a whole group at once, particularly when they included a member as sharp as Stiles was. He must have gotten desperate.

"No, Stiles, I'm not him," he said gently, sitting down next to his old friend. "I'm me."

Now there were tears in Theo's eyes as well. 

Pulling Stiles into his arms, they both held tight to each other as they cried for a very long time.


	10. Background Noises

Stiles slammed his bedroom door in frustration. Scott was hurt, Mason was the Beast, and Malia's mom was probably trying to kill him too. And on top of all that, he had absolutely no way to defend himself if she did decide to come after him aside from running which, yeah, that would work beautifully. This whole situation was becoming exhausting. Malia and Braeden had tried to convince him to stay with them at Scott's house, but he'd opted to sleep in his own bed, at least for one last night. This whole situation looked like it would be drawn out for some time and he wanted a full night's sleep before spending days on the floor or on someone's couch.

Trying to ease the tension, he did the one thing that was actually somewhat therapeutic to him - scribbling every confusing detail of his life onto his dry erase board. "Theo is back...Theo isn't Theo...the Nogitsune escaped...Nogitsune with Theo, not evil Theo" He was so caught up in his work that he didn't even notice when someone quietly entered his room.

"Confused, huh?"

Stiles jumped in shock, dropping the marker and looking up to see Theo staring through the board at him.

"Hey, its just me," Theo said gently, his eyes turning crimson.

Stiles breathed a sigh of relief.

"Promise me that you'll never sneak in here like that again."

"It was just a spur of the moment decision. Kinda wanted to put something between you and me before I got your attention in case you decided to punch first and ask questions later. It won't happen again. Promise."

Stiles grinned sheepishly.

"Yeah, sorry about that."

"It's fine."

Theo came around the board so that he was standing directly in front of Stiles.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. What are you talking about?"

Theo gave him a look.

"Stiles, you and I both know that we were more than just friends back in fourth grade. I know when there's something bothering you. What is it?"

Stiles sighed.

"Oh, you know. Just trying to suppress several months worth of heartache caused by thinking that you didn't want anything more to do with me and were trying to kill all my friends."

"I think it's a bit more than that, Stiles."

"My girlfriend's - or maybe ex-girlfriend; we haven't really talked about it - mom is probably planning to murder me."

"Stiles."

"Okay! It's just..."

Stiles hung his head, shuffling slightly.

"It's just, I don't think any of us are going to make it out of this alive," he said softly.

"Hey." Theo gently took Stiles' chin, raising his head till their eyes met. "You'll all be fine. I promise."

"Why? Because you brought back a demon spirit who possessed me?"

"Kaida is a last ditch effort against the Dread Doctors. Brute force won't work on them. The entire frequency they exist on has to be destroyed. She's the only one who can do it."

"Great. And that's it?"

"I have my pack of four, and then several others."

"That's probably not gonna cut it."

"You've got me."

"I'm pretty sure that the Beast would rip your head off before you could blink."

"Then I'll give my life to save you."

"That seems sorta selfish. Who's gonna kill the Beast then?"

"Probably Scott. Who knows?"

"So you'll put the lives of an entire town of people on the line just to save me?"

"You said it yourself. I'm selfish."

Before either of them could register what they were doing, their lips were together and somehow they'd managed to get on Stiles' bed. Breaking away for air, Stiles looked down at Theo, gasping.

"What the hell was that?"

"Admit it," Theo said with a smirk. "You missed this."

"God yes," Stiles breathed, letting himself get pulled into another kiss.

They eventually found themselves curled up under the sheets together. Theo's shirt had gone missing somewhere in the process and Stiles was having trouble catching his breath.

"So I'm guessing you just came over here to get laid?"

Theo laughed.

"I'm not going to beg. It's obvious that you've been able to move on and I'm just stuck."

"You haven't been with anyone else since you left?"

"To be completely honest with you, I never even really thought about it."

Theo sighed.

"I guess I just tried to cling to the last good thing I had before this happened." He gestured to his whole body.

"Oh. Yeah." 

Stiles suddenly started to feel extremely uncomfortable. He had never meant to bring Theo to such a touchy subject, much less make him feel vulnerable.

"I thought that since you'd left without saying goodbye that you and I were through," he mumbled.

Theo winced slightly.

"That's what I tried to make it mean. I guess I just didn't understand that the message would have to be for me too."

"So you _were_ breaking up with me."

"I never wanted to, Stiles! Believe me, if I could have done it any other way, then I would have. I was just trying to keep you away from all this. What did you think when you first discovered this world? That it was an adventure? That it was exciting? I discovered it by getting lost in the water treatment plant tunnels and then getting stabbed in the neck with a needle and waking up to find myself strapped to an exam chair. I left the way I did because I knew I would have to tell you everything if I said goodbye. I wanted you to discover this world the way you did, if you ever discovered it at all. I never wanted any of this part of it for you."

Theo was in tears at this point.

"I've had to live almost half my life in a nightmare. Can you imagine what that's like? Growing up and knowing that you have something horrible about you that no one else can know about? Do you even know how stupid you would have to be to drag someone you love who has know idea about any of it into your life? I could have gotten you killed! I know that everything I've done might have seemed unfair or selfish, but I was just trying to keep you safe."

Stiles was suddenly reminded of another particularly grumpy werewolf and found himself regretting a large amount of things he'd said to him without thinking. There didn't seem to be much he could do in this situation other than pull Theo closer and hold him while he cried. 

"Hey," he said softly. "That's all over. You've got me now."

"Only you."

"Huh?"

Theo laughed.

"Stiles, did you even think about how your pack will react when I eventually run into them. I'm pretty sure they won't exactly be what you'd call welcoming."

"Of course they will. I'll just explain everything and..."

"No," Theo said sharply, cutting him off. "You can't tell anyone that I'm back. I need to get to Jacob before he realizes I'm in town."

"Jacob?"

"The psycho wearing my face."

"Are you going to kill him?"

"It depends on how far he's gone. If he's taken more than one innocent life, then yes."

"He killed Scott."

"And Scott ended up fine in the end. Two permanent deaths. Beyond that he's not worth saving."

"Why two lives? Why not just one?"

Theo's eyes hardened.

"Well, that would be pretty hypocritical, wouldn't it? That would just make him even with me."

Stiles shuddered inwardly.

"So...so you did kill your sister. It wasn't him."

Theo suddenly drew away from Stiles and rolled over so his back was to him.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"You don't have to. In fact, I'd prefer if you didn't explain everything."

Stiles curled up against Theo's back and put an arm around him. 

"You'll be alright," he whispered, weaving his fingers into Theo's.

For both of them, this was the first night they'd slept soundly for a long time.

***

Jacob hated it when the Dread Doctors referred to him as Theo Raeken, but he'd learned to just accept it. They were scientists. To them, he was the physical form he was in at the time. They couldn't care less about whose spirit was inside anyone at a time. Of course, this did lead to confusion on the rare occasion when they decided to speak about an actual person instead of a label for a change.

"Theo...Theo Raeken."

"He's coming with us," he said defensively, determined to fight to obtain Mason from them if necessary. They'd been holding him back long enough. Not anymore.

"Failure...Theo Raeken."

"I'm not a failure," he hissed. 

"Not a complete failure. We learned from you."

Scott was attempting to distract him from their taunts, which he disgustedly ignored. He'd literally killed this kid just a few nights ago. At this point, his main goal concerning Scott was to see if he'd actually ever give up on someone.

"The mark of a true failure. Repeating the same mistake again and again."

"We're taking Mason," he snarled, shifting. "Then I'm taking what's mine."

The taunts were finally lost on Jacob. His primary goal was to get this damn kid out of here and become what he was meant to be.

"Let him go."

"You have the entitlement and narcissism typical of your generation. In that, you are a profound success."

Jacob fought the urge to roll his eyes at this. Trying to fight the urge to simply walk over and yank on the tube until the pain brought out the Beast in Mason and then kill him, he continued to distract the Dread Doctors while Scott and Liam worked to free him.

"But your failure taught us one thing. The banality of evil. That you were and would always be an ordinary evil."

"You think I'm ordinary?"

"We believed that to resurrect the perfect killer, we had to start with the perfect evil. From you, we learned true evil only comes from corrupting something truly good."

Jacob was momentarily confused. He'd never be good, much less truly good. Then realization dawned on him. They weren't talking about him at all. They were talking about Theo, the original Theo, whose profound goodness and selflessness had been twisted to prompt him to commit fratricide, a near perfect reenactment of the first murder. He'd been the true success. In fact, he was practically the only success. They might have been able to corrupt Mason in body, but his soul was practically untarnished. With Theo, it had been a corruption of both soul and body, and most importantly, both had happened of his own volition. 

Rage suddenly surged through him. He'd destroyed Theo. He'd killed their perfect killer. But of course, there was no thanks for him. No matter how much he did for them, he'd always be a failure in their eyes, never a success.

With a roar, he flung himself forward, attacking the doctor closest to him. Within a matter of seconds, Scott and Liam had joined him. The next few minutes were a blur. At some point Mason shifted, the two werewolves ducked behind a barrier as the Beast started to tear apart the Dread Doctors. Jacob ended up getting flung against a wall as it came for the Surgeon. Scott and Liam ran outside after it, leaving Jacob by himself.

Suddenly, he realized just what the Surgeon's word had meant.

_"Failure...Theo Raeken."_

He wasn't a complete failure, and neither was Theo. The failure had come as a result of his inability to accomplish something requested of him.

"So he's alive," he growled.

Although not for long, if Jacob had his way. Scott was an impossibility now that Liam was completely loyal to him, but Theo, who did he have to protect him? No one in Beacon Hills would trust him from the sight of his face alone. 

Jacob's face twisted into an ugly smile.

He was done screwing up. He'd kill Theo as a warm up for his real goal - the Beast. But before he went after an Alpha, he wanted to test his newfound skill one more time. After all, practice makes perfect.


	11. To Hell And Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before you lies a delightful snippet in which Kate kicks butt, Theo finally gets his revenge, and Kaida finally returns to being the creepy little fucker that she was in 3B instead of a tiny Uncle Peter. (In fact, I think I actually somehow made her creepier than she was in 3B, if that's even possible.)  
> And for God's sake, read the notes!  
> (And give feedback. Pretty please.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter covers the Season 5 finale, but don't worry, this story isn't over yet! There will be more to come! Also, sorry it's so long. I was feeling inspired. :)  
> And just a slight warning. The only explanation I could come up with for Theo's sister's appearance is pure slapstick comedy, so if you ever want to be able to watch that scene again without giggling, don't read this chapter and try to forget that this work even exists ASAP.

War. It was something that only ever happened to other people, something which you heard about on the news or read about in a book but never experienced yourself. But now, war had finally come to Beacon Hills.

"We're doomed," Ethan groaned, wearily staring at the formidable army of books spread out before him, threatening to lay waste to his sanity.

"Just start reading," Danny responded, shoving an extremely large, extremely dense volume over to him.

Still grumbling, Ethan flipped it opening, sneezing as a cloud of dust flew up from the pages.

"Just one question," Jackson said. "How the hell did you get all of these books from the library? None of us have valid cards."

"The police were much more concerned about trying to find the giant creature who'd been eating people than guarding the secrets of the universe. And it's not like anyone will notice they're missing anyways."

"That's great and all, but can someone figure out how to get us a wifi connection soon?" Dana moaned.

"Abandoned building, princess. We already have our work cut out for us getting cell phone signals here, much less access to the almighty Internet," Kaida said suddenly, stepping out from where she was lurking in the shadows. Somehow in the past few hours she'd managed to go completely Mulan on them, cropping her host's hair to a manageable length, donning leather armor (they still had no idea where she'd gotten that from), strapping on her twin katanas and a terrifying assortment of Japanese weaponry, and essentially turning herself into a zombie ninja demon. It was something they all should have seen coming. The only problem was that she really shouldn't have had time to accomplish all that.

"Shouldn't you be helping with all of this?" Isaac snapped, gesturing to the pile of heretofore obsolete literature lying before him.

"I can't read," she snarked, slinking back into the shadows.

"She really can't," Danny said, catching sight of the looks on the others' faces. "Kitsunes have trouble with language."

"Well, that certainly doesn't seem to keep her from shutting up," Ethan muttered, burying his nose back in his book.

***

Theo was nervous, more nervous than he had ever been in his entire life, really. For once, instead of it being his own worthless life in danger of being destroyed, it was everyone else's. And if he was being completely honest with himself, he was more suited for taking lives than saving them. He'd holed himself up in one of the old offices on the second floor, not wanting to deal with everyone else. But when a knock finally sounded on the door, he found himself more than a little relieved. 

"I can hear your heartbeat all the way down the hallway," Jem said, stepping into the room and shutting the door behind her.

Theo sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"I'll be fine."

As she made to leave, he suddenly turned to her.

"Wait."

Turning back, she stood still as he made his way over to her.

"Look," he said softly. "As far as Jacob and I go, only one of us is going to make it out alive. And I don't think it's going to be me."

"Theo..."

"Jem, do the math. He desperately wants to kill me, and I don't want to take another life. Not even his. That's never ended well. That's why I need you to promise me something."

Jem sighed. 

"Theo, I think you're being a little over dramatic..."

His eyes flashed red. 

"Promise me, as my Beta, that you'll do what I ask."

"Fine. Shoot."

"When he does kill me, and he will, I need you to make sure he doesn't become an Alpha."

"Theo, I can't save you're life if you're already dead."

"That's not what I meant," he said, taking her hand and placing it on his chest over his heart. "I need you to take my power first."

Jem stared up at him with wide eyes.

"But I..."

"When you see him take me down, you make the killing blow before he can. Understand? You make sure that he never gains Alpha status."

"And what make you think I'm so different than him?"

"You aren't. You two are actually quite similar. The only difference is that, where he decides to go left, you go right. That's why I brought you into my pack. Because I saw that there was still good in you."

Jem scoffed, but inside she was trying not to cry.

"Whatever you say, boss."

After she left, Kaida stepped out from the corner she'd been hiding in.

"Not a single falter in her heartbeat. She'll still do anything for you, just like the others. He's not going after your Betas."

"Well, he's got to be after something," Theo ground out, glaring at the wall opposite him. "If he knows I'm in town he's going to do something that will give him an edge over me."

"Maybe he doesn't even know."

Theo laughed bitterly.

"Oh, he knows. I just don't know what to do about it. I want him to get what he deserves but I don't want to kill him myself."

"Might I do the honors for you?"

"That would be fine, if we could get him on his own. But right now he's probably tailing Scott's pack everywhere waiting to steal La Bête's power."

The broad smile that suddenly broke across Kaida's face was somewhat unnerving.

"How do you feel about irony?"

"Kaida, this is a vendetta, not one of Aesop's fables."

"Jokes?"

"Nothing that's happening right now could possibly be considered funny in any way."

"Morbid humor?"

"Now you're starting to get me interested."

"What is your moral status on digging up corpses in the middle of the night?"

Theo sighed.

"Okay, now I'm so confused that I'm going to say I'll go along with your plan just to figure out what your plan is."

Kaida's grin turned into a smirk.

"Have you ever heard of Skinwalkers?"

***

In just a few minutes, Kaida had taken control of the body of a young woman driving through New Mexico. She'd known what had been happening out here when they'd first driven through, and she'd known that Kira was the young kitsune they'd been trying to help. And now Kira was heading back, and Kaida's plan was being set into motion. 

She waited near the cliff face out of sight, letting the night air blow over her face. She felt rather than saw the head Skinwalker approach.

"Kaida, this is bold of you. You are not welcome."

She turned with a smile.

"Is this really how you treat all of your guests?"

"Only you."

"I'm here about the young kitsune."

"You cannot have her."

"I don't want her. Though I understand that she is leaving soon to return home?"

The Skinwalker looked at her hesitantly before responding.

"Yes."

"Good. I need you to do me a favor - one that is owed me, I might add - and give her a message to take home with her. And if you make it out to be from you, I'd greatly appreciate it."

***

It hadn't taken very long after learning that Gerard was now working with the pack for Kate to realize that he planned to take La Bête's power somehow. She had heard the story of the kanima incident, and while she feared Gerard, she trusted Chris more. That was why she was now in the tunnels accompanied by Isaac and Ethan. Trailing them were Theo and his pack. 

"Alright," she said. "They won't be running to La Bête. They'll be waiting for it to come to them."

Turning, she and the two werewolves veered off into a side tunnel away from the roars they could hear in the distance. Theo and his pack continued forward. 

"Okay, so what are we doing, exactly?" Jem asked.

"We're getting down to the lower level," Theo said, pausing by a grate. Kneeling, he gripped it in his hands, wrenching it out of the floor. 

"Okay, everyone in."

Dana looked down into the black depths skeptically.

"I guess you've had worse ideas."

The four Betas dropped down, landing in running water. Their Alpha landed next to them.

"Now we head on until we hear that we're below everyone, and then we tail them."

"Whose idiotic plan was this, again?" Connor asked as they started up again.

"Kaida's. She still needs to finish off the Dread Doctors. Scott and his pack probably think they're dead, but she can feel that they aren't. As soon as their frequency is destroyed, we're in the clear."

"Is it even possible to destroy an entire frequency?"

"She's a force of chaotic mass destruction. I wouldn't put anything past her. Anyways, she needs to bulk up before she attempts it and to do that she needs to feed off of pain, fear, and, most importantly, electricity."

"Please tell me that we're not the ones she's having for dinner."

"Oh no," Theo said, his lips forming a half smile. "Let's just say we have an unwilling volunteer in mind."

***

After her brief visit to New Mexico, Kaida had entered her new body that she and Theo had procured a few hours ago and waited for Kira to return. As soon as she did, Kaida trailed her as she entered the tunnels.

She wasn't particularly sure why she was helping Theo and his group. She had previously allied herself with him so she could defeat the Dread Doctors. By agreeing to this task, she was pretty much bound to it for life unless she died trying to kill them. As a kitsune, she was forced to never back down from a promise or she would lose her life. Why else had she let Malia go when she promised Stiles that she wouldn't get hurt if he let her in? Admittedly, killing the other boy might have been seen as overkill, but she had to get her kicks somehow.

But now it seemed more and more like she was helping because she actually wanted to, as if she was fulfilling her true purpose or something equally as ridiculous. A nogitsune could never revert back into a normal kitsune, even if for some reason they tried to do good. At least, that was what all the legends said. Perhaps it was possible, only no one had ever attempted it before. Was it because she had made her choice with the intention to do good that she might have a shot at redemption?

Kaida rolled her eyes, pursuing Kira deeper into the tunnels. 

As if.

***

"What the hell is he doing here?" Ethan growled as Deucalion strode into their view, accompanied by Scott and his Beta.

He, along with Kate and Isaac, where hiding behind a grate in the wall, facing down the tunnel.

"Apparently, your former Alpha is actually working for the good guys. So much for your revenge," Kate hissed at him.

All three winced as the Demon Wolf proceeded to break what they hoped was the neck of fake Theo and not Theo himself. After a few seconds, they determined that Jem would have torn him to shreds at that point if it was actually Theo and relaxed. The werewolves in the tunnel bickered with Jacob briefly before continuing down the tunnel. 

Then came the gunshot.

"This is a surprising alliance, Scott. You and Deucalion? How long have you been planning this clever little double cross?"

"Oh crap," Kate muttered.

"About as long as he and I have been planning this one," Chris retorted, drawing his weapon so that they were face to face, both with guns trained on the other.

"What are you doing?"

"I knew when I brought you back, it would never be about saving lives. Only about immortalizing your own."

Isaac snarled and made to move forward, but Kate and Ethan grabbed him.

"Scott, go."

The two werewolves hesitated.

"Go now!"

They immediately took off running down the opposite tunnel.

Isaac and Ethan had been watching the two werewolves leave, so their eyes weren't on the scene before them when the shot came. They immediately looked up in shock, expecting the worst. What met their eyes was Gerard clutching his hand, crying out in pain, the gun discarded on the concrete floor. Blood was welling up from between his fingers. Chris still had his gun trained on Gerard and was staring at him in a mixture of confusion and horror. At the smell of gunpowder, the boys turned to their right. Their eyes widened as they caught sight of Kate, a grim expression on her face, holding a still-smoking handgun. Chris had begun looking around him widely trying to see where the shot had come from.

"The grate," Deucalion told him wearily.

Chris immediately turned to face in their direction. Knowing better than to try and run, Kate pushed the grate open and stepped into the tunnel. 

"And just what were you planning to do if I hadn't showed up?" she asked, sounding like she was lecturing a child.

"Kate?" both men gasped in surprised.

"Kate," Gerard choked out. "Help me." He reached out towards her, trying to appear more hurt than he actually was.

"Oh, I'm not coming anywhere near you. You already tried "werewolf." Twice. The last thing we need is you adding "werejaguar" to your bucket list."

"Damn right," Isaac muttered, noticing that Jacob, who had by now healed slightly, making a go for the discarded gun and kicking it away from him.

"Ah, aren't you a sight for sore eyes," Deucalion said as soon as Ethan was standing next to him.

"Can't say the same," Ethan snarled in response.

"Pity. And where has your brother gotten off too?"

Ethan was visibly shaken by this question and seemed to lose his edge.

"He's dead."

"My condolences. Now if you could help a blind man up?"

"He's not blind!" Jacob rasped from where he was lying sprawled on the floor.

"I know that!" Ethan snapped, helping Deucalion to his feet anyways.

"Can I just ask what in god's name you're all doing here?" Chris asked.

"Roadside bar. And I think that's all you need to know," Isaac responded.

Chris glared at him before moving to pick Gerard's gun up off of the floor.

"Oh, and something else you should probably know," Isaac added. "This Theo isn't actually Theo."

"And this Theo doesn't seem to be anywhere at all," Kate said, surveying the now-deserted patch of concrete that had been occupied only seconds before.

The six of them turned to survey the area and several of them groaned.

"Oh bloody hell," Deucalion muttered under his breath.

***

"Oh, yes. This is a fabulous plan, Theo. Very A+ work you've done here," Connor hissed.

They were all crouched in extremely cold water, shivering, listening to the roars and yells emanating from the tunnel above them.

Theo's response was a deadly glare, which was followed by a piercing scream that shook the concrete walls around them and somehow managed to vaguely resemble the name "Mason."

"Have velociraptors learned how to speak?"

"That was a banshee," Kaida said, appearing suddenly beside them. 

"For the love of god, will you stop doing that?" Connor shrieked, getting up and running to take shelter behind Jem.

Kaida immediately noticed the look of discomfort on Theo's face.

"She'll be in the ground again in a few more minutes. Can you try to just hold out until then?"

"It was different when it was just a dead body," he said softly. "Now it just looks like she's alive again."

"Well, it isn't her. And I can prove it. Did your sister ever slap you? Because I'm about to."

Kaida's attempt at corporal punishment was interrupted by the sudden surge of electricity overhead. She seemed almost gleeful for a second.

"Hey, do you guys mind giving me a boost?"

Blake and Dana groaned, getting up and lifting her up onto their shoulders so that she could reach the ceiling. 

"Oh, and watch your heads. He'll probably come down kicking."

"Are we seriously dragging someone through the floor into the sewer basement?" Connor asked.

"No," Kaida said, seemingly offended. "We're dragging his sorry ass 'into the depths of hell.' God, use your imaginations, people."

There was a sudden sound of rock splitting and a crack formed in the ceiling further down the tunnel and moved rapidly towards him. Kaida listened intently to what was happening overheard and then barked down an order to the two werewolves holding her up.

"Little bit more towards the center and further down."

They shuffled to the demanded location, trying not to drop her.

"Okay, we're good. Be back in a sec. Oh, and remember to watch the kicking."

A large gap opened in the ceiling above them and Kaida launched herself through. Following her dramatic entrance came the terrified cries of a voice that was very distinctly Theo's screaming "Scott, help me!" over and over again. Jem's eyes almost rolled into the back of her head.

"If you would very kindly reverse your previous statement about us being extremely similar, I would be much obliged," she said sharply.

Theo sighed, his eyes trained wearily on the hole in the ceiling.

"Granted."

Kaida's legs suddenly appeared, her feet flailing at the sudden loss of footing. Blake and Dana grabbed her ankles, pulling her down. After some struggling, her head finally appeared, her hands clutching desperately to Jacob's wildly kicking legs. Her eyes met Theo's with a look of complete and utter hatred.

"Screw your body and its fantastic muscle building genes," she grunted, finally managing to drag Jacob through the floor. The pair landed on top of the two werewolves beneath them as the gap above them sealed tight with a low rumble. After much pushing and shoving, they finally managed to untangled themselves. Jacob, meanwhile, was sitting in the water on the floor of the tunnel, looking completely disoriented.

"What...?" he managed to stammer, glancing around at the werewolves surrounding him, clearly terrified.

"I think you know what," Theo snarled, stepping in front of him.

Theo had personally never used this expression before. In fact, he hadn't even known his face was capable of looking this way. But the shapeshifter's face was spelling out "Oh shit" more clearly than any words ever could.

"I think we're done here," he growled, looking down at Jacob's trembling form in disgust.

He moved his gaze to meet his pack.

"Let's go."

The five of them moved back out towards the exit, leaving Kaida and Jacob to themselves.

"Who...who are you?" Jacob stuttered, staring up at her.

"Oh, darling," she said with a cruel laugh. "I'm your worst nightmare."

She crouched down next to him.

"Although I did hear that you've been wanting to see me. In fact, that you thought you could control me. Now that's just insulting."

Jacob scrambled away from her.

"I've never met you before in my life! I swear!"

Kaida got up and began following him.

"I've heard you enjoy pain. So do I. I enjoy feeding off of it. And you, sweetheart, are pretty much a walking feast. Which is perfectly fine, although..."

She dropped down, grabbing Jacob by his shirt and slamming him up against the wall, crouching over him.

"...I'm insatiable."

Jacob closed his eyes, hoping that this was just a night terror and was in no way happening. When he opened them, however, he was greeted by the sight of glowing white eyes and gleaming silver fangs. Kaida flashed him a wicked grin as her fingers wrapped around his neck, claws piercing soft skin. Pain flowed into her, giving her the feeling of pure ecstasy. She had never felt so much before from one individual. Not even Scott. God, this boy was delicious. By the time she was done, there would be nothing left of him, just as she had promised Theo.

Leaning closer until she was gazing into his watering eyes, her smile sickening, she slowly moved past him until her lips where hovering against the shell of his ear.

"I'm Void."

***

 Theo and his pack made their way back out of the tunnels, making a concentrated effort to ignore Jacob's pained screams that echoed after them.

"So, just what exactly is she doing to him?" Jem asked hesitantly.

"She didn't say for sure what she was planning to do, but I think I have a general idea. What is the mostly disturbing thing you can think of that someone can do to another human being?"

The four of them thought for a moment, opened their mouths to speak, then decided it would be best for all of them if they said nothing at all.

"Though of it yet?"

"Yep," Connor groaned, feeling like he was going to vomit.

"Well, that's what she's doing to him."

"Oh, god!" they all exclaimed, sprinting past him towards the exit and away from the madwoman lurking behind them in the shadows.

Theo laughed softly, quickening his pace to keep up with them.

After they had exited the tunnels, Theo allowed his pack to return to the bank to get some well-deserved rest. He himself turned towards the town. There was someone he needed to talk to.

***

As soon as he was outside Stiles' bedroom window, Theo was greeted by the smell of blood. Stiles' blood. Fear flooded through him as he tore the window open, breaking the lock in the process. The other boy yelped, jolting upright in bed and snatching the baseball bat leaning against his nightstand.

"Theo, what the hell?" he hissed, glaring at the anxious werewolf who had suddenly dropped into his room.

"I smelled blood," Theo said sharply, striding over to Stiles' bed. Yanking up the human's shirt, he began sniffing suspiciously at the bandages covering his shoulder.

"Get off!" Stiles yelped, shoving Theo off and pulling his shirt back down.

"It was that girl."

"No, Theo."

"Then the other one."

"For the love of god, Theo! I was stabbed through the chest by a shard of glass when I fell on a broken coffee table."

Theo's glare was instantly replaced by a look of complete exasperation.

"Seriously?"

Stiles gave him a look.

"So I don't have lightning fast reflexes like you do. But I'm smarter, and...and..."

Theo laughed.

"You don't have to defend yourself. You'd be clumsy as a werewolf, too."

Stiles huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"That was hardly a compliment."

Theo just kept smiling at him and, Lord help him, Stiles was weak. He eventually gave up on the defensive posture and scooted back on the bed, allowing the Alpha to snuggle up next to him.

"So, how did it work out?"

"Fine. Kaida's probably done finishing off Jacob and should be tracking down the Dread Doctors soon."

"So everything's back to normal?"

"I don't think anything will be back to normal after this, but as far as there being nothing else we need to worry about, then yes."

"So what do we do now?"

Theo looked up at him with a smirk.

"I think a good start would be taking your clothes off."

Stiles rolled his eyes.

"Why do I even bother with you?"

"Because I'm irresistible."

'It's always the handsome ones that know they're handsome that are the most annoying,' Stiles thought to himself.

Twisting their bodies so that they were both lying down, Stiles finally asked the question he'd been dreading ever since Theo told him that everything was taken care of.

"So, now that Jacob and the Dread Doctors are gone, will you be leaving Beacon Hills?"

Theo smiled, planting a gentle kiss on his lips.

"Now, why would I do that, when I have the perfect reason to stay?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here are the reasons behind my explanations of the most difficult knots I had to untangle from the finale so that I could weave them seamlessly into my story...  
> \- I was trying to work out how Jacob had been killed by real Theo's sister, and determined that, as far as justice goes, his sister would definitely have gone after Jacob, seeing as he was the one who manipulated her adorable brother who just wanted to save people into killing her in the first place. If she truly loved her brother, which I believe she did, she would see that he, too, was simply a victim in all of this as well.  
> -That being said, who better to scare the living crap out of Jacob than our friendly neighborhood nogitsune, who eats pain and electricity for breakfast. (Also, Theo's sister's body held up so well because whatever the Dread Doctor's pumped her full of while trying to bring her back to life the first time preserved her corpse, much to Kaida's delight.)  
> -And even in canon, Kate or someone else was definitely involved between Chris and Gerard. I am a gun user, so I know a thing or two about ballistics. We see from the bandages at the end that the shot we heard as Scott and Liam were running away was the gun being shot out of Gerard's hand. Gerard might be old, but he would still have seen Chris coming a mile away, especially since they were at point blank range. The only plausible explanation is that there was a third party involved, and that their shot came from the vicinity of the wall facing down the tunnels in the corner Scott and Liam turned down. If the shot had come from the opposite direction, it would most likely have hit Chris' extended hand, which was parallel to Gerard's. Also, there had to have been some sort of distraction big enough to keep two highly skilled werewolf hunters and the fricken Demon Wolf from noticing that a certain chimera was slinking off into the shadows.


	12. Shadows of the Night

Kaida was standing on the edge of the cliff looking out over Beacon Hills, still drenched in blood, the smell of death consuming the air around her. She could feel her new power surging through her, reveling in it. She hadn't felt this way for nearly a millennium. She certainly was not going to waste it by hunting down the Dread Doctors. They would come to her. Although she believed that they thought they could defeat her, she knew they were still somewhat terrified of her. There was a reason that Kira was the only non-chimera they'd experimented on. The fact that she had been able to take the power she needed to defeat them from one of their own creations delighted her. There was nothing she enjoyed more than the irony of someone bringing about their own doom, with her being merely the agent in the end. It wasn't long before she felt the familiar surge of electricity behind her.

Turning, she focused on the three figure in front of her, her face barely masking her disgust. They were still as powerful as before, but La Bête's rampage had forced them to stitch themselves back together into nothing more than Frankensteinian beings. This wasn't the first time in history that they had had to resort to such measures, but it was clearly the most drastic.

Drawing her twin katanas, she drew the night shadows around her until they formed her aura, dark as an abyss. Even dark kitsunes illuminated their surroundings with flame. But there is no light where a nogitsune walks.

"I've been waiting years for this," she murmured, stepping towards them.

"Kaida," the Surgeon said slowly, his voice a mere crackle. "You will not defeat us. We will be successful once more."

She scoffed.

"Like him, all of your names and all of your secrets will die with you. No one will ever be able to bring that abomination back ever again. I have a promise to fulfill, and that promise was to exact vengeance on you for your experimentation upon the residents of Oak Creek."

Summoning her power to the surface, she unleashed a burst of electricity at the Dread Doctors. The plan was very simple. She would hit the Dread Doctors with everything she had, and then some. If her powers proved to be greater and they continued to fight back, which she knew they would, then the frequency they drew from would overload itself and they themselves would implode. Ironically, the desire for self preservation is one of the greatest weapons one can use against another.

Just as she had thought, the Dread Doctors began to fight back. In fact, they didn't seem to be defending themselves at all - they appeared to be trying to launch an offensive. Almost as if they were trying to defeat her. She laughed to herself. Of course, they had seen her transform. She'd known that her aura's form was similar to that of La Bête's, but she didn't think it would actually motivate them into attempting to capture her in an effort to use her as a vessel to bring it back. Fools.

Although, this would mean that they were putting in more of an effort than she had initially planned, which hopefully meant that they would wear out faster, which wouldn't force her to exert her full potential, resulting in her destruction. She had planned to die doing this. Her pride was what had convinced her to go down fighting instead of breaking her promise and bringing about her own doom. But now, it seemed she might make it.

With a grin, she thrust everything she had at them, hoping that the full force would break them. A hum started to fill the air as their frequency began to overexert itself. Kaida's power transformed into a wild electric storm, igniting several small fires in the underbrush. A palpable tension began to build in the air as the two energies came closer and closer to imploding. 

Kaida felt a sudden surge of satisfaction as the Dread Doctors' power suddenly gave, a piercing shriek filling the air before fading to a dying whistle. But her victory was short-lived. Almost instantly, she felt a sharp pain cut into her like a dagger; not in her body, but in her very being. That's when she realized that their power had, in fact, been equal, and she was dying.

"Seriously?" she muttered, mildly annoyed.

The last thing she felt was her vessel's body detaching from her before she faded into cool black nothingness.

Deep in the forest, an Alpha suddenly awoke, feeling the power keeping him in place suddenly dissipate. Breaking out of his prison, he stepped out into the night, determined to fulfill his duty to the gods, and to his Führer. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this is so short! I've been really busy with finals the past few weeks, which is why I haven't been updating. This is just a small piece I scribbled out to wrap up the season finale and the last chapter so I can "create" Season 6 before it happens. (I have this weird guilt thing about changing other authors' work, but if I don't know what it is yet, well, I can type up as much bullshit as I want without feeling bad about it.)


	13. New Beginnings and New Ends

"What the hell are you doing here?" Stiles hissed, slamming Theo into the row of lockers.

"Just transferred. My parents are moving out next week. Gotta hand it to Jacob for getting me into some good colleges, but I still have to keep my grades up."

"Are you insane?"

Stiles dragged Theo into the nearest classroom and slammed the door close.

"Huh, feeling frisky after last night, are we?"

"Is this all just a big game to you?"

Theo raised an eyebrow. 

"Well, considering that my arch nemesis who tried to ruin my entire life is now dead and I'm back with you, I am in a much better mood than I have been in the past nine years. Although, Kaida's more the one who's into the game thing."

"Well, you won't be back with me for long if Scott finds out you're still alive, considering that you just fell down a portal to hell a couple of hours ago."

"I think that a menagerie of several of his former classmates should be enough to convince him I'm not a ghost. And I literally have everything covered. Jacob's 'parents' aren't going to report him missing or anything. In fact, they seemed quite happy to get out of Beacon Hills once Danny told them that Jacob was dead. He was pretty sure the wife hugged him for fifteen minutes straight. The plate of cookies did seem a bit extravagant, though."

"She gave him a plate of cookies for telling her Jacob was dead?"

"Apparently, he'd wanted them ready when he got home that night."

Stiles grimaced.

"Any sign of that mental parasite that follows you around?"

"No. If she did successfully destroy the Dread Doctors, then she might have just skipped town."

"Fine. Just promise me you won't try to find her and tell her to come back."

Theo laughed.

"And here I was thinking that I was the only one with the key to your heart."

"You are. But she's a very excellent lock picker."

"I thought she only could get in through open doors?"

"She has skills."

Stiles sighed, shuffling slightly.

"Look, Theo, just go home for today, please? I need some time to figure out how to explain this whole situation to Scott before he sees you. And if Malia or Liam find you, you might as well shoot yourself in the head so you can at least have a quick and painless, not to mention less bloody, death."

"Hey," Theo said softly, stepping forward and putting his hands on Stiles' shoulders. "I think it will be fine. But if you're that worried about it, I'll go. Besides, what's one missed day of school in the vast scheme of things?"

"Trust me, they add up."

They both laughed before Theo leaned up to plant a kiss on Stiles' lips. 

"I actually had something I wanted to do, so I guess this is all working out like its supposed to."

"Apparently, you aren't referring to me," Stiles said stiffly, watching as Theo made his way across the classroom and clambered out one of the open windows.

"Oh, believe me," Theo said, looking back through with a wink. "I'll be doing you plenty tonight."

***

"I still can't believe you guys are all back," Scott said, looking up from his homework.

Isaac and Jackson were leaning up against the shelf next to him, trying to ignore Ethan and Danny making out against the corner of the bookcases mere inches from them, occassionally stumbling forward into the two Betas.

"Will you quite it?" Isaac hissed, shoving them back against the wall for what felt like the millionth time. "Geez, what is with you guys?"

"There's a reason baby animals are born in the springtime, Isaac," Lydia said without looking up from whatever book she was reading now. "Fall is when animals usually do the thing."

"You mean sex?" Malia blurted out, still not quite there with the whole brain-to-mouth filter concept yet.

"Yes, Malia," Stiles said exhaustedly as he flopped down into one of the chairs beside them, "she means sex."

"Okay, because I remember in the autumn that the deer would sometimes..."

"So, Liam, how has your day been?" Mason interjected quickly, cutting her off.

"Absolutely fantastic, especially considering that I have a wonderful friend who is willing to risk getting mauled by a coyote to save me from hearing the details of deer sex."

"Yeah, well it would seem it's their type who are getting the real hormonal overload," Lydia remarked, casting a glance at the pair in the corner.

All of a sudden, Mason disappeared from view and was replaced by a stream of sounds that really left nothing to the imagination.

"Oh for god's sake, Corey!" Hayden yelped, shoving an invisible object out of her lap and leaping over to sit next to Liam as the pair accidentally fell on top of her.

"What about you, Stiles? You feeling the same way as them?" Lydia asked suddenly.

Stiles almost fell out of his chair, praying that everyone thought his reaction was due to his crush on Lydia and not to something else, or rather, someone else.

"Nope, not really," he stuttered. "Not a thing, nothing."

Malia gave him a look before returning to fretting over odd combinations of letters and numbers.

***

Several miles away in the Beacon Hills Preserve, Theo was having a much less stressful time than Stiles. The sun was out and the air was at that perfect temperature where it was neither too hot nor too cold, and he was extremely grateful that he'd been talked into skipping school. As he made his way up towards the high ground, however, he began to catch the scent of smoke. Breaking into a run, he was at the top of the cliff in mere seconds. There were several small brush fires still burning, and the lower branches of all the trees in the area were charred. That was when he saw the bodies. Making his way over to the three closest to him, he leapt back in disgust and terror as he realized who they were. Even dead, and even after so many years had passed, they still managed to have that effect on him.

The fourth body, he then realized, must be Kaida's. So she had either moved on or was dead. Either way, she was probably now gone from their lives for good. He slowly walked over, almost not wanting to believe that she was gone. Yes, she was a psychotic nut bag, but she had been helpful to them in her own way, and even, it had seemed, wanted to do some good during her last few days. As soon as he could make out the face, those suspicions were confirmed.

The face was his sister's.

Kaida had not returned her body to the grave after killing Jacob, as it had been planned. She had used it to fight and vanquish those responsible for it's lifeless state so long ago. The purple-blue discolored skin of her body was now laced by an intricate web of Lichtenberg figures from where the electricity had surged through her. 

Theo smiled. It was bitter and there were tears in his eyes, but something about this entire scenario made him feel slightly happy. Somehow, when promising him vengeance for his sister's death, Kaida had decided that the only proper way to do that was for them to die watching as the person who's life they had destroyed broke them. They had thought they had gotten rid of her, but she had returned, inhabited by a higher being with the power to bring destruction.

He sat beside her body for a long time before picking her up and carrying her off into the trees. His sister wasn't going to be buried in the ground like something meant to be forgotten. She was going to be buried out here in the forest she had loved so much. He didn't stop until he came to the bridge. Of course his feet would take him here. Laying her down behind a thick line of undergrowth where she wouldn't be seen, he began to gather up stones from the riverbed to cover her with. As he was finishing up, a flash of white off to the side caught his attention. A short ways downstream, a wilted lily was caught on a branch jutting out into the stream, the current holding it firmly in place. Picking it up out of the water, he immediately caught its scent and nearly retched.

It was his scent, mingled with grief. Jacob. He had probably planned on coming out here to gloat, to leave a memento of his greatest achievement, but, it would seem, Theo's own body had been reluctant to betray him. Even though it was not possible to kill him again, Theo felt a strong surge of satisfaction that, even if it was only once, he had felt at least some of the pain that Theo had had to bear all of these years. It had probably made him furious. Theo silently wondered who he had made to suffer because of that.

Dropping the flower, he crushed it into the earth under his heel before picking up the last stone. He knelt down beside the cairn, taking one last look at his sister's face. Placing a kiss on her forehead, he set the last stone in place before getting up and walking away, determined to never return to that place again.

***

"Do we seriously have to go back there?" Liam grumbled, stumbling along after Scott as the pair made their way through the trees.

"Deaton wants all of the Dread Doctor's medical logs and tools. The Druid community is in a slight uproar about all of this and they need answers."

"Then why don't they just send Druids?"

Scott rolled his eyes.

"Because we know the way there and they don't. Now hurry up."

***

At the same time as them, Theo was also making his way towards the Dread Doctors secondary lair. They had built it when the Argents had started snooping around after they had examined his sister's body in the morgue and found that the heart had been removed, the classic sign to tell if someone has been killed by a werewolf. The Doctors really hadn't needed to bother, since the Argents took the bait and the Hale fire happened just under a month later. But since Jacob had clearly detached from them and yet still carried the scent of the lab in the water treatment plant, Theo figured they must have relocated here after the creation of La Bête. A strategic choice, most likely, since it was farther away from prying eyes. 

The wall had been broken open from the inside, probably the work of La Bête, and Theo dropped down inside. The place seemed mostly intact, despite some broken furniture and claw marks and the scent of blood. But there was something about the place that seemed off. 

Stepping forward, his foot came down on material on the floor that made a sort of wet crunch. Looking down, he saw bits of broken glass covered in some green liquid. His eyes followed the trail out to the hole he had just crawled through. After a short way, they became a set of bare footprints. Theo spun around, his heart stopping as he caught sight of the breached tank. His surprise quickly gave way to fear at the sound of voices approaching from outside. 

"And tell Deaton that I don't want to have to testify before any weird Druid committee."

"Liam, please just stop talking."

Theo darted off into the shadows, barely breathing and his heart almost at a standstill, though whether it was because of the presence of his old friend who was certain Theo had recently murdered him and his extremely angry Beta or because HE was missing, Theo wasn't quite sure.

The sound of footsteps suddenly filled the chamber. 

"Okay, you grab those things over there and I'll just...okay, where did the dead guy go?"

"Uhh..."

"Oh, god, there's footprints. See, I told you we shouldn't come here. Some wrinkled Nazi is going to kill us and it will all be your fault."

"Look, Liam, the faster you start grabbing things the faster we can get out of here."

There was a sudden flourish of activity as Liam started picking up everything in sight. If he'd ever had the same about of enthusiasm when cleaning his room, his mother would have died of shock.

After several of the longest minutes of Theo's life, the pair finally decided to leave. Theo almost breathed a sigh of relief, but it caught in his throat when Liam suddenly stopped.

"Hey, Scott, do you smell someone?"

Theo held his breath as Scott scented the air around him.

"No. It's just Theo."

Theo almost laughed at their confusion, but managed to contain himself until he was certain they were out of hearing range.

Now it was time for him to solve his new giant dilemma. Should he tell them who this Alpha was and what he was capable of? Of course. But how would he tell them? Through Stiles? Even he would have a hard time explaining where he'd gotten this extravagant information from. Theo had been so stupid. He should have known that as soon as Kaida destroyed the Dread Doctors' power it would have released him. Instead of looking at the big picture, he'd been inflicted with revenge-driven tunnel vision.

Regardless, the McCall pack had to know. They were the only ones with a track record good enough that they would stand a chance of stopping him. Not only that, but Theo knew who he would be going after. Because this particular Nazi, besides believing Teutonic occultism, had a fondness for the folklore of his county's ally, the Japanese, and an obsession with studying the effects of possession on the human mind. Theo shuddered. At this point, for Scott's pack and especially for him, it looked as if things might become personal. Which really left Theo no choice. He had to reveal himself to Scott.

***

"Okay, so what to we know about this guy?" Malia asked.

The pack was gathered in the animal clinic, discussing the peculiar mystery of the disappearance of the Nazi Alpha.

"Well, we know from Theo that he was an Alpha and a Nazi, and that the Dread Doctors called him 'Der Soldat,' The Soldier."

"Now there's some extremely specific information for you," Stiles muttered sarcastically.

"So what's he going to do? It's not like he's just going to settle down and live the American dream."

"Yeah, and you know who should be the most worried about this?" Mason interjected. "All of us pink triangle people over here. And especially me, because, well, you know..."

"I don't think that any of us are too thrilled by the idea of living in a world run by Nazi werewolves, Mason," Jackson said sharply.

"Oh, says the guy who's literally Aryan perfection."

"And I'm Polish!" Stiles yelled. "Now can we just figure out what we're going to do about this, specifically, how do we find him?"

"Run down the street yelling 'Heil!' and draw up a chart eliminating everyone who punches us and putting everyone who responds back on a suspect list?"

"Fantastic idea, Liam. Extremely professional," Lydia groaned.

"I think our primary concern should be figuring out specifically who this man is," Deaton said. "After we have that information, we can world on finding him."

"His name is Walther von Reichenau."

The pack whirled around in shock to see Theo standing in the doorway watching them.

"I know because he was my grandfather."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, I'm basing the plot of this second half around a fan theory I posted on my Tumblr blog with my same URL, just so we're clear I'm not copying anyone. (And don't worry about spoilers. It won't be the same.  
> Also, since this is my first time writing on my own without basing it around the structure of the actual plot, please let me know what you think in the comments. Thanks. :)


	14. The Soldier and the Fox

The exam room of the animal clinic was so quiet that they could have heard a pin drop. Well, Stiles could have heard a pin drop. The rest of them could probably hear a pin drop three blocks away in the middle of L.A. during rush hour.

Isaac was the one who finally broke the silence.

"Well, Theo, it certainly took you long enough to finally show up."

"Wait...you...he...how?" Scott stuttered, looking around at everyone else for help, although they seemed just as confused and mildly pissed off as he was. Except Stiles, for some reason, who just look more than mildly pissed off.

"I thought I told you to stay put until I let Scott know about this."

"You knew he was back?" Scott exclaimed, whirling on Stiles. "Seriously? This is the second time in a month that you've hidden something important from me."

"Yeah, well this time it was to _prevent_ someone from dying," Stiles mumbled.

"You," Scott snapped, turning back to Theo, "had better tell me exactly what is going on here."

"Do you want the long version or the short version?"

"Short would be great," Malia snarled, elongating her claws.

Theo gave her a look before beginning.

"About a week or so ago I had a dream that I killed you, so I headed back with my pack to Beacon Hills to make sure everything was fine. On the way there, I met some old acquaintances of yours" - he glanced at Jackson and Isaac - "including the Nogitsune, who was coming back to kill the Dread Doctors. She gave the message to the Skinwalkers and then possessed my sister's corpse and dragged my doppleganger who had been giving you problem down to the second level where she slowly killed him to absorb his pain so that she had enough power to finally destroy the Dread Doctors' frequency. Unfortunately, when she destroyed it, our friend Der Soldat was released from his cage. Oh, and Stiles and I have hooked back up again."

"Theo!" Stiles shrieked, his face turning bright red.

"I don't believe you," Liam growled, shifting and lunging at Theo with a roar.

Theo's eyes flashed red, and before anyone could quite register what was happening, Scott's Beta was pinned to the floor by a very angry Alpha. Hayden ran to help Liam, but ended up getting pinned up against the wall by Jem, who had been waiting outside. In fact, Theo's entire pack, who he'd brought with him for back up, was in the room in an instant.

"Oh for Christ's sake," Stiles groaned, walking over to where Theo was preparing to bite Liam's face off. "Theo, he's just being an idiot. Let him up."

Theo glanced up and met Stiles' gaze defiantly for several seconds before relenting and releasing Liam. Jem let Hayden go simultaneously and the two Betas hurried back to their Alpha. 

"If you need a 'body of proof,'" Connor chimed in, "here's your proof."

Blake wander back out into the hauled and dragged in a heavy tarp-covered mass that stank of raw sewage and death. Throwing back the covering, he revealed Jacob's mutilated corpse.

"Oh, god!" Stiles yelped, cover his mouth and nose and stumbling backwards into Jackson. Even Malia looked to be on the verge of throwing up.

"Wow, she really did a number on him," Jem commented, stepping forward, only perturbed by the smell. "Look, she didn't even leave enough of him to shift back once he was dead."

"Yeah, Jem," Dana grumbled, "and not all of us are psychotic enough to be impressed by that."

"Blake," Theo said exasperatedly, "can you please get him out of here? Now."

Blake complied, covering the body and carrying it out of the room to go dump it in the preserve as they had previously planned.

"Okay," Stiles said quickly, frantically trying to find a way to dissipate the tenseness of the situation. "I know this doesn't look good, but I think we can all agree that no one in this room is actually a bad guy."

"Well, considering his last act," Malia said stiffly, gesturing to Theo, "and that the Nogitsune is somehow involved, can we really trust anything either of you say?"

"Whoa! I am not possessed! Okay?"

"Stiles, the only way we can really be sure of that is that is if we employ an Oni," Lydia said sadly. "And the Yukimuras are gone now, so that's not really an option."

"We can just bring the real Nogitsune here then!" Stiles said, looking at Theo desperately.

"She's gone."

"So just as helpful as ever."

"Look, Scott," Theo argued. "I'm an Alpha. That would never happen if I was a Chimera."

"Chimeras can change," Hayden said bluntly.

"And let's be honest. Him producing a dead body as proof of his innocence isn't the most convincing argument ever. Not to mention the fact that most of us here saw you get dragged into hell just a few hours ago, so really anything is possible after that," Mason added. 

"Parrish is here," Lydia said suddenly. "If anyone knows about the effects of hell, it would be him."

Deaton rolled his eyes as Parrish entered the room from the hallway still on fire, deciding that any previous arguments he'd made in favor of the preservation of his property had been blatantly ignored.

Theo snarled, instinctively whirling on the hellhound and shoving Stiles and his pack behind him, eventually needing both Stiles and Jem to keep him from lunging at the flaming figure.

"Friend, Theo," Stiles grunted. "Frien

"Okay," Corey finally declared, looking at Parrish uncomfortably. "That's definitely not Theo."

***

"Let me get this straight. This Nazi werewolf provided the Dread Doctors with human specimens during World War II, was deeply involved in Teutonic and Japanese occultism, and is your grandfather?" Scott asked, still desperately trying to process the information overload he'd just received.

"Yes. Reichenau, his surname, became Raeken after my father came to the United States. He never even knew our family existed. My father was born in Lebensborn, where young women from the League of German Girls were kept as breeding partners for members of the SS in order to build up Hitler's future army."

Lydia made a face.

"Wow, he makes Gerard look like a saint," Stiles muttered, Scott nodding along with him, both of them repulsed.

Theo and Scott, along with Stiles and Lydia to act as mediators, were gathered in Scott's bedroom trying to formulate a plan for how to best tackle the new obstacle of werewolf Naziism.

"He had a policy that every Jew his men captured was to be killed on the spot, along with everyone else he saw to be undesirable - Christians, homosexuals, the disabled. He believed that the Dread Doctors' research was the key to unlocking the perfect Aryan male and female, which would then be cloned to create the basis for a Superior Race. That was why, when it came to human experimentation, he was against experimentation on camp inmates. To ensure the best results, he supplied the most outstanding members of his own troops."

"Well, this is obviously extremely revolting, but what does this have to do with us, besides hiding four of our dear gay friends, not to mention ourselves, back in the closet?" Stiles questioned.

"He was an occultist, and he was the one who designed the mural in the Dread Doctors lair. His ultimate goal is to bring about the end of the world and create a new perfect world made up of only people of Aryan descent. Obviously, this was the Nazis' goal as well, but he had the belief and the means to, I believe, possibly succeed in doing this.

"La Bête was just the beginning. As any of you who have read the Book of Revelation know, one of the first signs of the end of days is the coming of the Beast."

"Then the horsemen," Lydia murmured.

"Huh?"

The three boys looked at her, confused.

"When I first learned that Parrish was a hellhound, I had just read about the Wild Hunt, which was traditionally held to be led by Woden, the king of the Norse gods."

Theo nodded. 

"Kaida had explained this to me after I showed her the mural once we were in town. Kitsunes are particularly aware of the Hunt's history, since most traditional hunts are tracking foxes. Needless to say, kitsunes and hellhounds don't usually get along very well."

"Wait, the Japanese are involved?"

"Yes. Reichenau was fascinated not only with Teutonic myth, but also with the myths of the Nazis' allies, the Japanese. He loved Nogitsunes for their obvious usefulness in war, but he despised kitsunes and the Inari, or Japanese gods, because they could tell when a Hunt would take place. The Inari would then amplify a young kitsunes' power so that it could fend off the Wild Hunt, and also to use it as a messenger of coming destruction."

The trio were stunned.

"Kira's powers were amplifying because there were gods effecting her? It wasn't the Dread Doctors?" Scott exclaimed.

Theo nodded.

"Jacob did record her saying 'I am the messenger of death' even though she didn't speak any Japanese. It was probably just the kitsune affirming it's calling," Lydia added.

"Jacob would have known," Theo confirmed. "He tried to use it to turn all of you against her. He wanted you to somehow detain her because the kitsune was killing all of the chimeras it could find to prevent the first step towards the Hunt from occurring. Not only could he have been found out, but she could also have prevented him from having a chance to steal La Bête's power."

"But how do we get her back from the Skinwalkers?"

"Once they find out why the kitsune is taking over, they'll release her. Skinwalkers aren't the nicest creatures to walk this earth, but they're not evil. If allowing her to return to Beacon Hills will help stop this, then they'll do it without hesitation. If Reichenau is successful, it will pretty much be all of us - werewolves, Druids, banshees, werecoyotes, werejaguars, wendigos, kanimas, Skinwalkers, kitsunes...every earthly supernatural creature you can imagine pitted against an army of ghosts, demons and hellhounds that will be released when he succeeds in opening the gates of hell."

"Please tell me these gates are under the Hollywood sign like in Percy Jackson?" Stiles groaned.

Theo gave them a grim smile.

"I think you all know where they are."

"Oh, Christ. They're under the Nemeton, aren't they?"

"Not just there," Theo said, surprisingly calmly. "There are several gates, at each point on the telluric currents. The Nemeton, the school, Eichen House, the bank, the Dread Doctors lairs. After whatever ritual he needs to do is completed, it will be impossible to tell when they will each open, in what order, for how long, and if they will open multiple times. Basically, it will be impossible to prevent them from opening unless we stop him before it happens."

"And what happens if they do open?" Lydia asked, dreading the answer.

Theo locked eyes with her, the dark look in his eyes making her breath catch.

"If they open," he said slowly, "then you will scream louder than you've ever screamed before. You will scream until your throat bleeds. You will scream until you have no breath left and then you will keep screaming, because there will be no end to the death that these riders leave in their wake."

***

"Umm, look, I know we didn't end on the best of terms. Hell, I don't even know if you can hear me."

Kaida awoke in the darkness with a gasp. It was cold and blacker than night. There were no stars, just nothingness. She couldn't feel her body - she didn't have a body. So she hadn't died. She had simply been weakened. But now her rest was over, and someone was calling her.

_Stiles._

Surprised, she became attentive to what he was saying.

"Okay, so something big has come up, and as much as I hate to say this, we really need your help. I need you to come back and help us save the world, but first I need to lay down some ground rules. No killing or maiming anyone unless they are actually a threat to us or someone else. And no possessing anyone accept your corpse host unless I tell you you can. And yeah, you'll be answering to me, so just get used to the idea. That's the deal. Now take it or leave it."

If she'd had a face, she would have smiled. The boy was getting smarter.

***

"I can't believe we are seriously dealing with the apocalypse right now," Stiles grumbled, flopping back onto his bed. 

"Oh, come on," Theo said with a laugh. "Senior Year isn't that back."

Stiles gave him a look before burrowing under the sheets. If there had been one distinct advantage to Theo's reveal it was that he could finally use the front door when he wanted to spend the night instead of crawling through the window and scaring the shit out of Stiles.

He sighed as Theo's warm body pressed up against him.

"Didn't I promise that I would protect you?" Theo murmured, nuzzling Stiles' hair.

"Yeah," Stiles mumbled into his pillow. "As soon as you can fend off a ghost army, please let me know."

"Did you here back from Kaida?" 

"No. I think she's dead."

"I'm not sure whether to be relieved to hear that or extremely worried."

After a couple hours, Theo was completely asleep and Stiles was almost there when Theo's phone buzzed.

Theo groaned and tried to lift himself up, but Stiles shoved him back down into the mattress as he scrambled over him to snatch the phone off of the nightstand.

"I've got it. You've got that stupid werewolf vision. It will probably blind you permanently."

Stiles turned the phone on.

"GAAAAAH!"

"And you're doing so much better."

"Shut up," Stiles muttered, jamming his elbow into Theo's ribs.

When he saw who the message was from he jolted awake and sat up, putting his full weight on Theo's lower abdomen. The werewolf grunted, shoving him off onto the floor where he landed with a thud.

"It's from Kaida!"

"That's great, Stiles. Could you just tell me in the morning?"

"Look!" Stiles exclaimed, grabbing the Alpha by his hair and dragging his head around, forcing his sleep bleared eyes to stare straight into the dazzling brightness of the phone screen.

Across the blinding whiteness of the screen were emblazoned two words: "I'M IN."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment? Thank you! :)


	15. Every Time A Bell Rings

"Rise and shine, sleepyheads!" Kaida chirped, whipping back Stiles' shades and letting the blinding sunlight stream into the room.

Stiles and Theo yelped, diving underneath the covers.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" Stiles groaned, silently beating himself over the head for calling her back.

The Nogitsune cackled, wandering over to the bed and yanking the sheets off.

"I think you might be forgetting that she doesn't possess a single solitary shred of human decency," Theo mumbled into his pillow.

"Not actually the one who's having problems being decent," she said bluntly, looking pointedly at their attire, or lack thereof.

" _You_ yanked the covers off. You brought this on yourself," Stiles hissed, dragging himself over Theo and onto the floor. His case against her was immediately forgotten as he occupied himself with the more immediate problem of not being able to find any pants.

"You always think they're in the dresser drawer that's permanently open for some reason, but they usually fall short in the trash because you suck at throwing things," Kaida said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, I do hate you so," Stiles muttered, crawling behind his desk and yanking his jeans out of the mound of crumpled paper that had been building up there over the course of several years.

Theo, who hadn't yet found the motivation to extract himself from the bed, grumbled, "There had better be a really good reason for you to be here at... Holy shit! It's two in the afternoon?"

Kaida grinned.

"I didn't think it wise to come earlier, as I suspected that the two of you would have been engaged in illicit activities until the early hours of the morning."

"We just stayed up really late," Stiles growled.

"Your lack of clothing begs to differ."

"It gets really hot in here at night, okay?"

"I'm sure it does."

'Why does there have to be two of them?' Theo thought wearily as he finally managed to muster the resolve to drag himself from the mattress.

"And as for why I'm here," Kaida said quickly, cutting Stiles' next objection short, "the Argents might have found a lead and everyone is meeting at the bank to discuss it. I was tasked with collecting Alpha No. 2 and his mate."

"Whoa!," Stiles snapped. "I am _not_ his..."

But the Nogitsune had vanished.

***

"Kate and I have been going over several of Reichenau's personal documents and we discovered some interesting things he wrote about the Nazi's rumored miracle weapons," Chris said, spilling a bunch of yellowed papers and books out of a worn leather briefcase onto the table in front of them. "Have you ever heard of Die Glocke?"

"The Nazi Bell?" Stiles said skeptically. "Please tell me you're not talking about that thing that was on Ancient Aliens."

"That's exactly what I'm talking about. However, like most things, they got it wrong."

"Die Glocke was created as a particle accelerator, supposedly to create an anti gravitational field," Kate added, "but they found out it could do many things they hadn't planned on, much better things than simply defying gravity. There are lots of conspiracy theorists who believe that it allowed for time travel. It might have, but that's not what we're concerned with. One of it's lesser known abilities, and the one that Reichenau wants it for, is the ability to open portals to other dimensions."

"Aliens," Stiles muttered, ignoring a jab to the ribs from Theo.

"Oh, believe me, Stiles," Kaida laughed. "If this portal does open, then you'll be wishing that there were aliens on the other side."

"Yeah, Kaida, we already got the memo. Ghosts, demons, hellspawn. Every delightful variant of otherworldly evilness. You'd fit right in."

She glared at him.

"You've been doing your homework, but I don't think any of you have actually read to the end of the textbook. What you're talking about is the Wild Hunt, and that will be the least of your problems."

Everyone immediately looked over to her, both shocked and worried.

"You mean we missed something?" Chris asked incredulously.

"No, you didn't. At least not in any of his writings. Or those of any other Nazi occultist, for that matter. It was something that would have been so engrained in their minds that they would never have felt the need to write it down. He wanted the Dread Doctors to be in Beacon Hills for a reason. Beacon Hills isn't just home to a nemeton. It is home to the Nemeton, the first oak tree that the Druids nourished with their magic. You might think that their kind had only been around since Classical times, but in truth, they have been around since the very beginnings of history, back when the Earth was still alive and full of magic. And this oak tree? This was the Yggrasil - the Bridge Between Worlds."

"Oh my god, my head is starting to hurt," Isaac muttered.

"The magic was returned, but the tree is still a tree. It hasn't been reborn yet. Even when Kira's mother buried me in its roots it still had already lost much of its former glory. Which just goes to show you how powerful it would have been, if its weakened form was able to contain me," she added smugly.

Stiles rolled his eyes.

"Can you get to the point already? What's on the other side that we have to be so worried about?"

"Gods," she whispered. "The ghosts may snatch away every living thing's soul, but the gods will bring about Ragnorak, and destroy both the heavens and the earth." 

"Jesus, when you said the apocalypse, you actually meant it, didn't you?" Scott breathed.

"Since when did I ever not mean what I said?"

"Umm, all the time?"

"I always mean what I say. The problem is that most of the people I say things to are too stupid to understand what I'm trying to say."

"So if the portal opens the gods will arrive and kill everyone," Stiles snapped. "Great. Now what are you going to do about it?"

Kaida stared at him in mock surprise.

"Me? I can't do anything. I am but a spirit, and anyone I know who could hold their own against them I either lost contact with a long time ago or wants me dead."

"Well, that's just great."

"Actually," she said thoughtfully, "there is an old friend who might be willing to help us."

"By 'old friend' I'm assuming you mean 'old enemy who is weaker than me so I can actually force him to do what I want'?"

"Why would I be asking someone who's weaker than me for help? No, he's much older, and much more powerful, than I am."

"So this friend..."

"Partner would be more appropriate."

"Oh god," Stiles choked. 

She gave him a look.

"Alright! So this partner, just how do you know each other?"

"We have a shared passion for pissing people off and setting things on fire."

"Fantastic. I can't wait to meet your kids."

"We don't have any."

"Even better. Keep it that way."

Shoving past him, she headed for the exit.

"I'm going to try and track him down. Carry on without me. I'll find you when the time comes."

With that, she vanished without a trace.

"Well, now that we've gotten rid of one of our problems," Theo groaned, "where do we find the Nazi Bell?"

"That's the problem. No one actually knows for certain where it went. Even Reichenau wouldn't have known for certain, since he died before the war ended. But now we know for certain that it was taken by escaped Nazis to South America," Chris said.

"How the hell did you figure that out?" Stiles said incredulously.

"Because someone we all know has been living down there for a while, and she saw it a while back being moved to a location deep in the Amazon rainforest."

"Wait, someone we know?"

"Wow, someone's been getting slow since we last met," said a snarky voice behind him.

A chill ran down Stiles spine. 

Turning, he made an attempt to feign a look of pleasant surprise.

"Wow, look who I totally never wanted to see ever again."

Standing in the entrance to the bank vault as if she'd never left, and smirking at all of them, was Cora Hale.

***

Of course he would pick what was had to be the most remote place on earth to hide. She probably would too, if her superiors had also decided that the fate for her mischief was to chain her to a cliff to be tortured for all eternity. The island was little more than a large rock set in the middle of the North Sea. Alighting on an outcropping and making an attempt to avoid the frigid saltwater spray, she began to make her way up the jagged stone surface to the cave entrance located far above the reach of the waves. Entering, she shuddered as the cold subterranean air struck her damp skin.

"I know you're here!" she called out, partially sliding down the smooth damp boulders into the cave. "I need your help!"

There was no answer. She shuddered slightly. Admittedly, she had parted from him under less than peaceful circumstances. Their entire relationship had become dicey once they had become more lovers than master and apprentice, but once he had decided that he was in love with her it had grown completely out of control. He had a temper, and though it wasn't as severe as his brother's, his power was great enough that even the smallest of fits could create a natural disaster. When she'd first left, she'd barely escaped with her life. Hopefully, he'd moved on back then.

"Really?" a smooth voice came from within the shadows further down into the pit. "You leave me like you did, and yet you have the nerve to come back to ask for me help?"

She swallowed nervously.

"That was the plan."

He chuckled.

"You learned more than I thought. I'm proud."

She smiled.

"Not that proud."

The smile faded as she backed towards the cave.

"It's your brother," she stammered as flames started to gather in the blackness. "He's coming back. They all are."

The flames extinguished.

"What?"

Now she wasn't the only one with fear in their voice.

"That's why I came to you. You're our only chance of stopping them. I just need you to swear that you'll fight with us."

"Now why would I do that?"

"I can think of a pretty good incentive," she remarked pointedly.

The darkness sighed.

"As you wish. I'll return with you."

"Oh, thank the gods."

The darkness smiled.

"It actually is quite a pleasure to see you again, Kaida."

Feathers rustled in the cold air as his form began to materialize out of the blackness. Flaming wings appeared first, followed by glowing golden eyes and that smirk that had haunted both her most pleasant dreams and worst nightmares for centuries.

"It is a pleasure to see you again too, Loki."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a side note: All of the gods featured in this fic will have wings. I know the Valkyries are the ones everyone knows but since Thor also has wings in many stories I just figured screw it, I'll make them all winged.  
> Oh, and if any of you feel that my Loki reminds you of an old candy-bar-loving friend, he's supposed to. Tricksters have a weird way of finding one another, even if they have to cross entire fandoms to do so. (The chapter's titled the way it is for a reason.)  
> No, this is not going to be a crossover.


	16. Untaped Potential

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, but a lot of shit happens. I just really wanted to get something up and also see how you guys would react to me writing like a Jeff-Davis-level asshole. Sorry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is EXTREMELY short just because I'm so desperate to get something up. I'm so sorry it's been so long since I've updated! I've been really busy with my new job and family problems and haven't found the time, but the chapters will be pretty regular from now on. I just have to rush to get this damn thing done before November, and then we shall see whose is the superior Season 6, Jeff Davis! :)

Stiles rolled over in bed, glancing at his alarm clock through tired eyes. 3:00. It was still dark out, and yet Theo was missing for some reason. Getting up, he stumbled over to the window to glance out at the full moon overhead. A dark shape moved on the lawn on the edge of sight and he looked down to see Theo's familiar face looking up at him. He slid the window up and leaned out.

"Where did you go?"

"I have to show you something. In the preserve."

Stiles groaned. Ever since Scott and the others had left for their expedition to Brazil, Theo had become the self-appointed guardian of Beacon Hills, a job he sometimes took a little too seriously.

"Can't it wait? Theo, it's three in the morning."

"It's urgent."

Another groan.

"Fine. Just let me throw on some clothes, okay? I'll be right down."

Theo smirked up at him.

"Clothes aren't necessary."

"They are when there's mosquitoes."

Shutting the window, Stiles tripped over several things attempting to dress in the dark before silently creeping down the stairs and out the front door, praying he didn't wake his dad. Although Lord knows the good Sheriff wouldn't even bother getting out of bed what with all the running around the McCall pack did at night.

"So, what's so important?" Stiles hissed, half-jogging to keep up with the werewolf in front of him.

"You know I'm not good at explaining things. You'll just think it's stupid and decide not to come."

"I'm already on the verge of deciding that," Stiles muttered, shivering in the night air.

Theo shot him a desperate look.

"Come on, Stiles."

"Fine. Just make it quick."

The pair stumbled through the underbrush for what felt like an hour before coming to a fairly open area with just a few trees scattered about.

"Where the hell are we?"

"We're pretty deep in. No houses for a couple miles."

"If you get us lost I'll kill you."

"I think you keep forgetting I'm not exactly human. I can hear and smell the town from here."

"Now that's reassuring."

They began to hike up a rather steep incline. Theo glanced over at Stiles, a curious look on his face.

"Kaida said she spoke to you before she left. She said the possession might have left some residual powers and that she was going to teach you how to use them."

"Really? I don't recall."

"You aren't going to let her teach you? Stiles, I know what she did to you was horrible but just think for a moment. You could get some good out of it."

"Right. Now where is this thing you wanted to show me."

"Between those two trees up there. But come on, answer me honestly. Why don't you want her to teach you?"

"Because I don't want to have to spend any unnecessary time with her. And it will be unnecessary. I don't have any power worth taping in me, Theo. And believe me, if I felt it, I would use the hell out of it. But it's just not there. And..."

Stiles' monologue was cut short as he stumbled over the edge of a small hill and slid face-first to the bottom with a small yelp.

"Theo, what the hell are you..."

With a sharp cry, Stiles scrambled back from the horrid sight in front of him.

"But you do have power in you, Stiles. It's just buried too deep for you to see it."

Theo was lying sprawled on the forest floor in front of him, eyes lifeless, throat slashed. But then who...?

Stiles' blood ran cold as he looked up in horror to see golden eyes hovering over him.

"Maybe the only one's who deserve power are the one's who are willing to dig deep."

Sharp claws plunged into his chest, and he screamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry bout that ending, guys! Will update soon! Please comment and tell me how evil I am! Love you!


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